Red vs Blue: Agent Rhode Island
by TyForestWrites2
Summary: (Book 1) Agent Rhode Island (Just call him Rhode) is the new recruit for Project Freelancer. After his parents were killed by an Insurrectionist soldier with a shark helmet, Rhode joined the project and climbed his way up to the good life of a Freelancer. Unfortunately, the project had other plans. (Hinted Agent Carolina x OC)
1. Prologue: How We Are Here

**A little bit of a warning here. I'm going to censor the cursing. Before you kill me for that, just hear me out. I don't curse. I just don't. I even feel guilty when writing it down from someone else's lines. So just bear with me. But now... Onto the show! Or book... whatever.**

 **XXX**

 **Prologue: How We Are Here**

 **Before the flashbacks of Season 9**

Agent Rhode Island: Journal Entry #1:

I should probably get this out right now. The only reason I'm doing these journal entries is because the Counselor, Aiden Pryce, told me it might help calm some nerves that I have.

Now with that out of the way, hi. I'm Agent Rhode Island, but just call me Rhode. Seriously, why was I named after the smallest state? I guess it's another reason I have bad luck. I should probably explain why.

See, my family was a huge supporter of Project Freelancer, actually being very rich sponsors. However, that also made us a huge target for the Insurrection. When I was visiting my parents for a family reunion one day, our house was attacked. Despite the high-tech security, Insurrectionists, led by a heavily armored soldier with a shark pattern on his helmet, burned down the mansion, taking my family with it. I barely escaped with my life.

For about a week, I was homeless, with nothing but a pistol with no ammo. Authorities finally found me and I was questioned for what happened. With no where else to go, I took to the streets again. But then... Agent Carolina found me.

She took me to the Director of Project Freelancer who gave his condolences on my life in the past week. He put me in training, and a few weeks later, I became Agent Rhode Island, bent on getting revenge against the soldier that called himself "Sharkface".

But, of course, I made friends with a couple of the agents. Carolina (of course) was the first. She's number one on the Leaderboard and for good reason. She actually helped me train for becoming a Freelancer. One thing I never got was why she helped me. Did she pity me?

I asked her and she simply replied, "I don't pity you, it's just... Well, I don't know. I just get the feeling you're someone special and you deserve this."

I was a bit confused by the answer, but I took it.

My second friend was Agent Washington, or Wash, who was almost as new at this as I was, so we got along great.

Then there was Agent York and Agent North Dakota, or North. Both are very calm and collected, even when in danger, and, due to their support, motivated me even more.

Then there was Agent Tennessee, or Tenn, Agent Arizona, or Zona, and Agent Pennsylvania, or Penny. They were my teammates for the longest time before I moved up on the Leaderboard. Tenn was pretty quiet and reserved, but he genuinely cared about his teammates and had our backs if things got rough. Zona and Penny were almost the exact opposite. They were what you would call 'fangirls'. While annoying at first, the two girls grew on me. It was hard to dislike them.

Now for the Agents I haven't become friends with, but are worth mentioning.

Agent South Dakota, or South, is a harder nut to crack. She's North's twin sister, but you couldn't tell unless they told you. She's very proud of her leaderboard position (above her brother) and has a quick temper.

Agent Maine is a very quiet, but strong guy. In fact, if the guy lost the ability to speak, I don't think that would have made a difference.

Everyone else I either don't like, like Wyoming, or just haven't done anything really worth mentioning, like Connecticut, or CT.

It's been two years since I became a Freelancer and I don't think I've been happier. I have friends and a boss that seem to care about my well-being, my own weapon (a sniper rifle), and a chance at revenge. I haven't encountered Sharkface yet, but I know he's out there somewhere. It's only a matter of time...

 **XXX**

 **And there's your prologue for the story. Did I do a good job with the backstory? Till next time guys!**


	2. Chapter 1: The Twins and Numbers 1 & 3

**Chapter 1: The Twins and Numbers 1 3**

 **BJØRNDAL CRYOGENICS RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **ARCTIC OCEAN**

 **MANY YEARS AGO...**

"Hey, we clear?" Agent South Dakota spoke through her helmet radio.

Her and her brother, Agent North Dakota had been sent to infiltrate and steal information from an Insurrection base in the Arctic Ocean.

On the top of a nearby chimney, a second Spartan in dark purple armor with green highlights lay on his stomach, keeping a lookout with his sniper rifle. North Dakota was grateful that the smoke billowing around him was keeping him hidden from view, but at the same time he was starting to feel like a steamed fish.

"Yes South, you're clear," he replied to his sister's call, "But watch your corners. The smoke is good for cover, but it's playing with my thermals. And the cold isn't helping."

South, who wore pink armor with green highlights, asked, "What's the time?"

"Don't worry about the time. Worry about the objective. Next patrol's in twenty seconds."

"Huh, I'll be gone before that," South snickered, running out of the room.

"Ok, slow it down, South," North warned, "Set your motion trackers."

But South ignored him as she leapt off the ramp and kicked a guard right in the chest, knocking him out and then catching his gun before it could hit the ground, "Nah, takes too long."

"So does getting caught. Set your trackers."

North watched as his sister ran into a nearby complex, "South, I do not have visual in there. I can't be your eyes if I can't see."

"Just trust me, North. I got this."

South ducked behind a computer terminal and stuck to the shadows as she slipped past the soldiers.

"South, talk to me," North called through her radio.

"Not right now, North," she hissed back.

She then ducked into a room and stopped by a large computer screen, "I see the objective, going to initiate transfer."

She took out a slim data key from her pocket and inserted it into the terminal.

"While it's loading, _set your stupid tracker_. There's bound to be some-" North stopped as he then saw something on his thermal scanner, "South, I got something odd on thermal, two small dots."

South didn't hear him. She was too busy watching the info make its inexorably slow download onto the card, "Come on, come on!"

"South, check your six!" North yelled, "I think something's in there."

Quickly, South drew out her pistol, whirled round and pointed it out... at a rather startled soldier carrying two mugs of steaming hot coffee.

Silently he turned his head towards an alarm button next to him then looked back at South who growled, "Don't even think about it."

The soldier looked at South, then at the button, then back at South. Then he dived forward to hit the alarm, but South fired her pistol, hitting him square on the shoulder. He spun round from the impact, dropping the mugs, but even as he died, his body was still moving towards the button.

"Aw crap..." South turned round to find the download was complete and she snatched the key out before dashing out the room, "It's about to get loud..."

Mere seconds after she left, the soldier's body hit the button. Outside, North leapt to his feet as a shrill siren began to blare across the facility.

"On my way!"

He jumped off the chimney and landed behind two guards before smashing their heads together, "Well, so much for keeping quiet. South, meet me at the helipad for extraction!"

"Roger," South replied, taking out three guards as she ran, "I might be a minute."

She leapt off the platform onto a lower walkway, taking out two more guards but then three others opened fire and forced her behind a pillar. But then she ran out the other side and fired back, hitting them in the legs and sending them down. She then ran forward and sent one guard back with a flying-kick then she shot the second guard in the face. The last guard raised his rifle but she knocked him back with some quick punches before smashing her boot into his kneecap, snapping it like an eggshell. As the first guard staggered to his feet, she grabbed his teammate and hurled him into his friend, knocking him back onto some lockers. Before he could recover, South spun round in a roundhouse kick, smashing his helmet right into the locker.

She then ran out onto the walkway as other guards began to surround her. But then sniper rounds slammed into their chests as North dived off an overhead walkway and joined the fray. North then whipped out his SMG and fired right into a soldier's stomach, moving upwards from crotch to chest.

Behind him, South saw another group of soldiers coming towards them, "Shotgun!"

North snatched up the dead guard's shotgun, used it to smack two other soldiers away then he cocked it and tossed it to his sister, "Catch!"

South caught it easily then she whirled round and fired, taking off a soldier's head with one shot, "Thanks!"

Between them, the twin agents took out the other soldiers then they made for the helipad... only to be driven back by several rounds of fire.

As they took cover behind two crates, South quickly did a sitrep. "Snipers, top of that building!"

North reloaded his sniper then turned to his sister. "Switch on my mark. Sync?"

"Sync!"

"Mark!"

They quickly switched positions then North fired at the snipers. South grabbed one of the dead soldiers and ran towards the landing site, using it as a human shield, "Moving!"

"Go go go!" North bellowed, running along behind her.

As they neared the pad, South threw her shield away and then leapt onto the railing.

"Watch your left!" North warned as he took out a sniper.

South ran along the railing until she was right under the platform above the door then she fired at their feet, taking out the other two snipers.

North ran up to the door, keeping his sniper trained at the approaching soldiers, "Get the door, I'll hold them off."

South pressed some buttons on the keypad then the door slid open, "We're good, let's move."

Quickly, the two Freelancers ducked through the door and ran towards the landing pad as more soldiers charged towards them. South fired at them before going into a slide and knocking one soldier flying.

"Switch!" North swooped around his sister and took out four guards with his SMG while South leapfrogged over his head and kicked another guard aside, "Move!"

They ran on down the walkway, executing every soldier they met, until they reached the helipad, a large platform surrounded by three long walkways, walkways that were filled with dozens of soldiers armed to the teeth.

"Oh come on," South groaned.

On one walkway, a soldier in red-trimmed armor stood by a turret and gave his warnings to the two agents, "Attention, morons! Stand down. You're surrounded. Give us the data file now!"

 **XXX**

 **PROJECT FREELANCER MCC**

The Director gave a frustrated sigh as he assessed the situation at Bjørndal. He shouldn't have been surprised at South's brash behavior. She'd always been a bit of a troublemaker; he didn't know how her brother kept her in line, or how she made it onto the list. But he knew that if something wasn't done soon, he would lose two potential Freelancers.

At that moment, one of the operators looked up from his work, "Situation is critical, sir. Should we do something?"

"Yes," the Director replied, looking at the list behind him, "Send them in."

"Roger that," The operator switched on the radio in his console. "Come in, Number One and Three. Number One and Three, you are green."

The Director glanced back at the holographic map, "Activate failsafe."

"Copy, sir," the operator said. "Initiating beta protocol..."

 **XXX**

 **BJØRNDAL**

North's heart sank as he stared at the soldiers taking aim at them, "Well, out of the frying pan and into the fire."

"Eh, think I could take about fifty of 'em," South quipped, "How 'bout you?"

"How 'bout you save your jokes until we get out of this?" North scowled.

South glared up at the night sky, "Where the heck is extraction?"

But while the Insurrectionist was shouting, behind them, two dark-armored figures crept along the shadows towards them, preparing to strike at the right moment.

"You will be taken into custody!" the leader continued, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way! There is no escape, so give us the data file!"

But then, just as the soldiers took aim, the figures leapt out of the shadows and one kicked three soldiers off the platform while the other pulled out a sniper rifle and killed one row of soldiers. Then it kicked another soldier back, knocking the leader away from the turret. Then the other figure grabbed the turret and fired it at the support beam of another walkway, causing it to collapse.

"Get down!" North grabbed his sister and shielded her with his body as the soldiers slid off the platform and onto the landing pad.

He looked up as the figure did the same thing with the third walkway, "Oh no..."

"What's going on?" South asked, pulling away from her brother's hug.

"It's them."

"What?" South stared up at the figure, "What're _they_ doing here?!"

The figure fired the turret a bit more before stepping back and kicking the barrel, sending it spiraling around as it fired. Then she did a back-flip off the walkway and down towards the twins. The other one, a male, front flipped after her. As they flew, their armor shifted their color so that when they landed, the girl's was light blue and the boy's was green with blue highlights. The soldiers stared at the change in amazement, but North and South just shrugged their shoulders. After all, they didn't expect anything different from their fellow Freelancers, Agent Carolina and Rhode Island.

"Okay, my turn." Carolina charged at the recovering soldiers with unnatural speed and took them out in a flurry of kicks, punches, cartwheels and sprints.

Rhode Island, or Rhode, raised his sniper rifle and grinned, "Let's go!"

The twins swapped looks of relief before raising their weapons and charging into the fray.

Amidst the chaos, one soldier, named Ian, scrabbled along the ground in a frantic panic, "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God."

Then his hands clasped around a battle rifle and he leapt to his feet in triumph, "Oh yes, a rifle! I'm saved!"

As he opened fire on the Freelancers, another soldier, named Anthony, came running up to him, "Uh, hey man, I hate to bother you, but I think that's my rifle you're holding."

"What the heck are you talking about? Just grab any rifle! Like, look at that, there is seriously a pile of rifles right there."

"No, that's my good luck rifle. That's the one I sleep with every night."

"Are you kidding me, man?"

The argument was interrupted when Rhode kicked them both off the helipad.

As the battle raged on and the Freelancers were gaining the upper hand, on the walkway, the leader grabbed onto the turret, swung it round and aimed directly at South.

But North spotted him just as he hit the trigger, "South, look out!"

He dived forward and knocked his sister out the way, just as the turret opened fire. North cried out in pain as several bullets hit him right in the chest, with one hitting his visor, and he was thrown backwards to the ground.

"North, NO!!!" South screamed.

Carolina looked round at this and jumped aside to avoid the turret's fire. Then she drew out her hook-shot and fired a grappling hook right at the turret.

The leader jumped back as the hook caught on the barrel, "What the-"

Wasting no time, Carolina pulled on the gun and the turret was yanked down to the walkway. As it fired, the bullets cut through the platform like a table saw, and it split clean in two. Several soldiers slid off the walkway and down into the sea, but the leader landed on a small ledge and managed to hang on.

South got her wounded brother to his feet and led him over to the edge of the helipad, "I got you. Move."

At the railing, they raised their guns and fired at the remaining soldiers, but South knew that North wouldn't last long with those injuries.

She quickly got on the radio, "Come in, Command! We have wounded. You need to get us out of here, right now!"

Carolina then ran up behind them and grabbed their back armor, "Come on, you two. We're leaving."

And with that, she pulled them backwards over the railing, with Rhode soon following.

The last soldiers left swapped baffled looks with each other. Surely the Freelancers wouldn't have been that stupid to jump over the edge like that? As they stepped towards the railing, they suddenly heard a loud roar of jet engines... and then, a Pelican-Class drop-ship rose up from behind the edge. It took a moment for the soldiers to realize that the four Freelancers were standing right on the roof.

"Sorry about the mess," Carolina called out while Rhode gave a two-fingered salute.

She and Rhode then led the twins across the roof towards the nearby hatch.

"Package is secure," she informed her superiors over the radio, "Everybody on board."

She left South to help her brother and made her way down the ladder into the troop bay then made her way to the cockpit where the pilot was waiting.

"Somebody call for a ride?" the pilot, 479er joked.

"You're late," Carolina scowled as she got in the co-pilot's seat.

"Ah well, you can take it out of my tip."

"You get tipped?" Rhode asked.

"Ha! I wish," 479er swung the Pelican around and took off across the Arctic Ocean, as behind them, the entire facility was destroyed in a massive explosion.

 **XXX**

 **And that ends the first chapter! Did I do well? Till next time guys!**


	3. Chapter 2: Evacuation Plan

**Chapter 2: Evacuation Plan**

 **SOMEWHERE OVER THE ARCTIC OCEAN**

 **MANY YEARS AGO...**

As the Pelican zoomed away from the destroyed facility, Carolina settled down for the long trip back.

Then Pilot 479er looked up from her seat, "Incoming transmission."

"I got this," Carolina pressed a button on her console and a small screen swung down from the ceiling, "This is vehicle Four Seven Niner, go for secure."

"Secure. Hello, Agent Carolina."

Carolina smiled at the voice and the glowing blue orb that appeared on the screen. The voice of the Director's AI friend, the Freelancer Integrated Logistics and Security System, always calmed her down after a stressful mission.

"Good morning, FILSS. Nice to hear your voice."

"Is this a bad time?" FILSS asked, "You sound occupied."

"The LZ got a little... hot. We may be late for the rendezvous, but we'll get there. Don't leave without us."

"Understood. It sounds like the Director was right to send you and Rhode along to assist the teams."

"Seems that way. But I can't say everyone on board feels the same."

"All Agents accounted for, excellent work."

Carolina glanced at the mission headcount on the screen next to her and frowned, "FILSS, I see a blank spot in the head count. Please verify."

"We will see you at the rendezvous, Agent Carolina," FILSS said, ignoring the statement, "Fly safe, and have a nice day."

Carolina's frown deepened. Why would FILSS lie to her about the missing member? Was she hiding something from her? She then shook her head. Must be a fluke...

"Roger that. Carolina out."

As FILSS disappeared from the screen, she switched on the radio to the troop bay, "South, Rhode, check your six."

In the troop bay, South placed her unconscious brother into a seat and lowered the guard rail over him. Then she and Rhode ran over to the window at the back of the ship and peered outside.

With a gasp, Rhode ran up to the radio and switched it on, "Heads up, we've got company back here."

479er glanced at the tracking radar and saw they were being pursued by two large stingray-shaped fighter jets. From the speed they were travelling at, the pilot guessed that they were Longsword-Class Interceptors.

"Who are your friends?"

"Just some people we met at the party," Carolina quipped nonchalantly.

479er flinched as the Longswords' pilots opened fire, "They seem nice."

The Longswords fired at them, but the pilot swerved the Pelican side to side to avoid the blows. Then she slowed down so that the fighter jets shot right over them.

"Nice moves," Carolina beamed, pressing some buttons on her flight wheel, "Firing missiles."

Four missiles shot out from the ship's front and zoomed towards the Longswords, but the pilots on board used some quick maneuvers of their own, forcing the missiles to smash into the ice sheet before setting off after the Pelican again.

As the ship swerved and weaved to avoid the gunfire, South staggered across the loading bay and stood in the cockpit's doorway, "Can't you get us out of here?"

"I'm working on it," 479er retorted.

Just then a red light began flashing next to South and a loud beeping rang out, "What's that noise?"

"They have missile lock."

"That's bad."

"Yeah, that's bad."

"Take evasive maneuvers!"

"I'm trying."

"Well, try harder!"

479er glanced back at the impulsive Freelancer, "Hey South, do me a favor, would ya?"

"What?"

The pilot then pressed a button on the console and the cockpit door slid shut in front of South, locking out, "Thanks."

"Why you little!" South's muffled voice yelled out.

"You kind of deserved that," Rhode smirked.

A loud punch was heard and Rhode cried, "OW!!!"

At that moment, the Longswords fired their heat-seeking missiles straight at the Pelican.

479er quickly slammed her hand on another button, "Releasing flares!"

At the back of the ship, a panel slid up and several flares shot out into the sky. Some of the missiles hit the flares, but others managed to hit the Pelican.

As the ship rocked with the explosions, South was thrown around the loading dock like a stone in a tumble dryer, "I hate flying!"

She then hit her head on a guard rail opposite her brother and slumped to the ground unconscious. At the same time, North slowly came to with a groan.

"Hey, everyone hold on back there," 479er called out, "Things are about to get a little um..."

"Bumpy?" Carolina asked helpfully.

"Yeah," the pilot nodded, "Well, I was gonna say crashy, but bumpy works."

She then steered the Pelican down towards a large crack in the ice shelf, but the missiles kept right on their tail. Swooping and swerving through the canyon like an X-wing in the Death Star trench, she managed to get the missiles to hit the walls around them but still the Longswords pursued them.

"Countermeasures depleted." Rhode said, "North, get moving. I'm clearing you for equipment usage."

"Whatever you're gonna do back there, do it fast," 479er added.

North lowered the guard rail over his sister and gently patted her helmet, "Stay safe, kiddo."

He then stumbled towards the ladder that led to the roof, but his HUD was showing 'Helmet Malfunction' so he took it off and tossed it aside. He climbed the ladder to the top and opened the hatch. The wind whipped around him as he stepped onto the roof, but the magnetic clamps in his boots prevented him from getting blown off.

As he stood up, he felt the wind ruffling his blonde curly hair and he wiped the blood off the wound on his left cheek, "Well, here goes nothing..."

As the Longswords fired off another volley of missiles, North pressed a button on his left wrist and then slammed his fist onto the Pelican's roof. At once, a huge domed energy shield billowed out from his armor and surrounded the back off the ship, taking the missiles' blows, but the ship was knocked off course, careening towards the sea.

"Pull up, pull up!" Carolina screamed.

479er pulled back on the flight wheel and just managed to get the Pelican balanced moments before it could crash into the sea. Jostled in her seat by the near miss, Carolina looked up to see they were approached a huge bank of clouds then the screen began to flash up.

"There's the rendezvous point," she informed the pilot, "If we're gonna make it, you better punch it."

In the loading bay, North made it to the bottom of the ladder and would've collapsed to the floor if Rhode hadn't caught him. He gave a last glance at his sister to check that she was still okay before passing out.

Behind them, the Longswords were gaining on them. But then suddenly, a huge beam of light shot out from the clouds and took out one of the fighter jets.

"Whoa!" Carolina looked round at the spot where the beam had come from... just as a huge ship emerged from the clouds.

It was long and pointed, shaped almost like a giant pistol. Its bulk was adorned with lights and long antennae. On the side, Carolina could see the ship's name: _Mother of Invention._

At the sight of this massive frigate, the other Longsword turned to run but the Mother of Invention fired another beam of light and destroyed it too.

With a sigh of relief, 479er switched on the radio, "Mother of Invention, we are inbound."

"We will have medical personnel waiting for you in the landing bay," FILSS informed them, "Welcome home, Four Seven Niner."

Carolina just smiled as the pilot steered the Pelican around the frigate, "Thank you, FILSS. It's good to be home."

 **XXX**

 **And that ends Chapter 2. Not much to say, soooo... Till next time guys!**


	4. Chapter 3: Realignments

**Chapter 3: Realignments**

 **ON BOARD THE MOTHER OF INVENTION**

 **THE DEPTHS OF SPACE**

 **MANY YEARS AGO**

As the Director made some brief consultations with the Counselor, Carolina took a moment to look at her fellow Freelancers. She noticed that South's posture was a little tense; she was always more nervous when she was in the Director's office. She then turned to North and gave him a small nod. The medical team had done a great job in helping him recover from his severe injuries, although he now had a scar on his left cheek. North noticed her looking at him and gave a quick thumbs-up. Rhode stood at attention regularly, but he looked at her and gave a quick smirk.

Carolina then looked up at the leader board behind the Director. She never understood why the Director was giving them scores based on their progress in the missions and what he was planning for all of them, but she was slightly worried of the competition that the other Freelancers would be trying, determined to get on the top of the list.

At the moment, Carolina was at the top of the list. At number two was Agent York, number three was Rhode, number four was Agent Wyoming, the very British fellow; he seemed harmless enough, but she was a little suspicious of him. At fifth and sixth place were South and North. And in seventh place was Agent Washington, the most trusting of all the Freelancers. That was how the leader board showed, but she knew that any action taken in the field could change their ratings, for better or worse.

At that moment, the Director turned to the Agents and Carolina quickly stood back to attention.

"The data you recovered has pinpointed the location of a very important target for Project Freelancer," The Director gave an approving smile, "Excellent work."

"Thank you, Sir!" the four Agents said at the same time.

The Director nodded then turned to the man beside him, "Counselor, please update the board."

With a nod, the Counselor pressed some buttons on his handheld pad. Carolina looked up at the board and was pleased to see her place at the top was still secure. She then looked down in time to see North's name swap places with South's so that he was now in fifth place.

The Director gave a little nod, "That is all. Dismissed."

North, Rhode, and Carolina nodded in reply, but South just stepped back in alarm.

Then she ripped off her helmet and glared at the Director, fury burning in her grey eyes, "I thought you said the mission was a success, Sir?"

"One of the mission objectives was stealth," the Director retorted, "Your carelessness revealed our intention and made our next mission more difficult. They'll be ready for us. Dismissed."

South looked despondent for a moment then she tossed back her short blonde hair, picked up her helmet and strode towards the door.

Carolina watched her go then she turned to North and Rhode, "Think I should talk to her?"

Rhode turned as South punched the door control panel so hard that she actually broke it and then stormed out the room then he turned back to Carolina, "Yeah... Maybe we should give her a minute."

 **XXX**

Later on that week, North stood in the hallway and glanced out the window at the starry blackness of space. No matter how many times he'd seen it, the depths of the universe never ceased to amaze him. As a child, he and his sister South would sit in the backyard of their home and stare up at all the stars in the night sky, wondering what new worlds awaited them out in the cosmos.

North gave a little sigh at the memory. Those were the good old days, before the Great Wars came, before the Covenant came and destroyed everything, took their homes and their families. He and South lost their parents in the first wave, but now they were on Project Freelancer and they would get their chance at revenge...

At that moment, a Spartan in grey armor with yellow highlights stepped out of a room and made his way down the hallways.

As he passed the window, North ran to catch up with him, "Hey, Wash, wait up! Listen, I heard you had a meeting with Internals."

"Oh, you did?" Washington asked.

"Yeah, do you mind if I ask what it was about?"

"I'm not really supposed to talk about that."

"Help me out here," North pleaded, "I'm still getting heat about using equipment in the field."

Wash stopped in his tracks and turned to stare at North, "You did? Really? Without a pipeline back to the Command server?"

"I had to improvise. We had a problem."

"Let me guess, are you related to the problem?"

"Okay, now I don't want to talk about it," North sighed, setting off again.

"Equipment in the field," Wash muttered, "Y'know, don't forget what happened to Utah during training."

"Don't remind me," North said, recalling that day.

"You're lucky it didn't kill you," Wash said.

"If I was lucky, I wouldn't have needed to use it at all," North scoffed.

"Well, you can relax. Internals didn't ask about you."

While Wash was talking, several soldiers ran past them in a hurry.

"It was something else. Lots of questions about the Insurrection and transmissions coming out of our- Oof!" he suddenly gasped as a soldier bumped into him.

"Sorry Wash," Rhode said, stopping.

"Hey, what's going on?" Wash asked.

"New agent squaring off against Maine, Wyoming and York on the training room floor," Rhode explained, "I'm going to watch!"

North swapped an amazed look with Wash, "Three on one?"

"I gotta see this," Wash cried.

"Right behind you," North called as they ran off down the hall.

In the training room, three soldiers, colored white, tan and white with orange highlights, each grabbed a pugil stick and prepared themselves for combat.

"Five, four, three, two, one, Round begin," FILSS announced over the speakers.

With that, the three soldiers charged straight into battle... only to get knocked back by their black-armored opponent...

 **XXX**

 **Here comes the woman in black... Sorry. Couldn't help it. Next up, Agent Texas! Till next time guys!**


	5. Chapter 4: Agent Texas

**Chapter 4: Agent Texas**

In the deck, the door slid open and Carolina came in.

"What's going on down there?" she demanded, "There's no training session on the schedule."

"It's impromptu," South answered.

Carolina went up to the window and spotted the black-armored figure, "Who the heck is that?"

"Some new recruit," Rhode said with a shrug.

Down in the training room, York, Maine and Wyoming got their feet and ran right at their opponent, but again they were swatted back like flies.

Wash let out an admiring whistle, "Wow, he sure doesn't move like he's a recruit."

South turned and glared at him in annoyance, "Why do you assume it's a guy? _She's_ a girl."

"Oh," Wash flustered, "I... I didn't really mean that he- I mean it- Uh, duh, I mean her, I-"

South just gave a little chuckle, "Right."

"Sorry."

"Just shut up."

"Both of you, can it," Carolina snapped.

"Sounds like someone is a little concerned about their position," South retorted.

"Hey South, pay attention," Carolina countered, "You might actually learn something if you stop running your mouth for a minute."

"Ooh, snap," Rhode muttered, causing Carolina to chuckle a bit.

After a minute or so, the new recruit easily beat the three.

"Round one over," FILSS announced, as Maine staggered to his feet, stumbled around for a bit and then promptly fell down again, "Pugil stick training complete. Point awarded to Texas. The current score is: Team 1: Zero. Texas: 1."

Wash raised an eyebrow, "Texas, huh?"

"I thought that name was reserved," Carolina muttered.

"Nice moves," Rhode complimented.

"It could be luck," Carolina replied, pressing her hands on the glass, "We'll see."

After a five minute reprieve for the agents to recuperate, they went back onto the training room floor.

"Beginning hand-to-hand combat," FILSS announced, "Round Two in five, four, three, two, one. Round begin."

The four agents raised their fists and got into fighting stances, York, Maine, and Wyoming each daring Texas to make the first move.

"Okay guys," York hissed to his team, "This one should be easy, so let's just play it by the book. Maine, how about you flank left and then-"

But Maine just charged forward and was knocked down with a single punch.

"Or you could just charge in and get immobilized first," York sighed, "Okay, Wyoming, let's stick together and-"

Wyoming ignored him and ran towards Texas but went down the same way.

"What's the story?" York yelled, turning to his team, "Am I the only one on this team that knows how to talk?"

"I don't think talking is your only problem," a cold female voice said behind him.

York whirled round to find Texas standing right in front of him, "Oh no!"

He swung his fist out, but Texas dodged it then punched him in the gut, sending him flying.

As Wyoming tried to get up, she kicked him in the face and knocked him down. She then went into a one-on-one fistfight with Maine, blocking every blow. Then as Maine swung for her head, she grabbed his arm, swung him over her head then kicked him into Wyoming, sending them sprawling to the ground. York then charged forward and threw some punches too, but again Texas was too quick for him. She blocked each punch made then she punched him in the gut, elbowed him in the face and finished off by punching him to the ground.

"Wow!" Wash gasped, while Rhode went wide eyed.

"Okay, that was pretty impressive," North agreed.

Carolina just watched the fight with a grim expression.

"Round over," FILSS announced, "Point Texas. Hand-to-hand combat complete."

The three agents staggered to their feet and went off to the side to recover.

"Now resetting the floor for Lockdown Paint Scenario."

As pillars began to rise up from the floor, the overlooking Freelancers gave a collective groan.

"Ugh, I hate that paint," Wash moaned.

"Tell me about it," South agreed.

"And it turns your armor hard as a rock," North added.

"I wouldn't know," Rhode said casually, making the others turn to stare at him, "It's not bad if you don't let it hit you."

"He's right," Carolina smirked, "I wouldn't know either."

"Thanks," Wash muttered sarcastically, "I'll try to remember that."

For the next few rounds, the results were pretty much the same; Wyoming and Maine would rush headlong into the fray, ignoring York's instructions, and Texas would outmatch them at every turn, gaining a point each time. In round Five, York peeked out from behind a pillar to see his frozen team.

"Hey Wyoming," he hissed, "Where is he? Can you see him?"

He then felt a gun behind his head and he gulped, "Uh, you know what? Never mind man, I think I've figured it out."

Then Texas fired and all he could see was pink.

By round Seven, the agents were starting to show signs of proper cooperation as they each hid behind a pillar and prepared a bold plan. Then Wyoming and Maine ran around the side of their pillars while York leapt over his but still Texas outmatched them all.

 **XXX**

"After eight rounds, the score is now 0-8," FILSS announced, "Advantage: Texas."

"Yeah, 'advantage' is the right word, FILSS," York muttered as he reloaded his pistol.

He looked to the others for confirmation but they weren't at the table. He turned round and just spotted Wyoming handing Maine a cartridge.

"Hey, what the heck are you guys doing?"

"Round Nine begins in five, four, three, two, one. Round Nine, begin!"

With that, Wyoming and Maine raised their guns at Texas and fired... but instead of paint splattering on the pillars, the pillars were shattered by the live rounds of ammunition as Texas ran behind them to avoid getting hit.

In the observation deck, Rhode gasped in horror, "What? Are they using live rounds on the training floor?"

"Looks like it," South replied.

"That's against protocol!" Wash cried, "They're gonna kill her!"

"Probably," C.T. replied.

"Someone should get the Director!"

"The Director?" C.T. scoffed, "Who do you think gave them the ammo?"

"Watch your mouth, C.T.," Carolina snapped.

In the training arena, York placed a hand on Wyoming's arm, "Back off, man. What the-"

But Wyoming shrugged him off and charged forward with Maine.

"Enough of this," York yelled, running round the other side.

Wyoming managed to draw Texas out and fired at her as she retreated for cover.

Then York came up from behind and tapped her on the shoulder, "Look out!"

Texas whirled round and pointed his gun at him.

"Hey," York cried, raising his hands, "I'm trying to help."

"I don't need your help!" Texas snapped, "Never abandon your team!"

On the other side of the arena, Wyoming tossed a grenade over to Maine then he ran over the top of the pillar and fired. Texas ducked aside and kicked York away. As Wyoming pounced from above, she grabbed his arm and tossed him over. Maine then swung a punch out at her, but she blocked it then kicked him back. As he swung out again, Texas punched him and then fired at his hand, sticking it to the pillar.

Wyoming got to his feet and fired a shot, hitting Texas on the shoulder and causing her armor to spark blue. She then charged forward and started beating Wyoming up, knocking him to the ground. York ran up and placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to stop her. It was a bad move as she then turned and started beating him up.

As Wyoming staggered to his feet, Texas flung York aside and then fired at the white Freelancer, splattering him with paint. He came up against a pillar and started to fall, but she then grabbed his head and jammed it right into the pillar.

Texas then turned her attention on York as he got to his feet. But behind her, Maine pulled his hand free with an angry growl and then charged forward, ramming into the pillar Wyoming was stuck on and sending the top half flying. Texas ducked to evade the rock, but the debris smashed into York, knocking him down.

Texas then raised hers and York's gun and fired at Maine, covering his upper body in paint then she kicked him back. But just as he felt his armor hardening, Maine grabbed the grenade, pulled the pin, and then tossed it towards Texas. She ducked to avoid it and the grenade rolled towards the dazed York.

"Hey!" she yelled.

As her armor sparked blue again, she quickly raised her gun and fired at York, covering him with paint just before the grenade went off.

KABOOOMMM!!!!!

As soon as that happened, they called for a medical team.

"Medical team on route," FILSS announced, "Please remain calm."

Carolina and Rhode then ran after Wash, North and South as they hurried onto the training room floor. As Wash went to check on Maine and Wyoming, Carolina knelt down by York and lifted him up. She noticed that his visor had multiple cracks and there was actually a hole on the left side.

"York?! York!!"

York just gave a weakened groan before blacking out. Carolina then turned to the medical team who had just arrived, "Get over here, now!"

Rhode then patted York's shoulders, "Come on, York. Hang in there."

Wash stood back as some of the medics went to help Texas, Maine and Wyoming and rejoined the others, "Is he gonna be okay?"

South just sighed and bowed her head, "I can't believe she did that to him, shot his armor, and sacrificed him."

"Lockdown hardens the armor," Wash reminded her, "She probably saved his life."

"Quick thinking," North commented.

"Yeah, really quick," Carolina muttered, looking over at Texas.

Just then the doors slid open and the Director strode into the room, followed closely by the Counselor, "Everyone, stand down now!"

At once, the Freelancers still standing jumped to attention.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves!" the Director berated, walking along the line, "I expected an act as a team!"

"They used live ammunition on the floor, sir," Rhode argued, "That's against regulation."

The Director rounded on him and stared him down, making Rhode flinch.

"Do you think our enemies will care about regulations on the battlefield, Agent Rhode Island?!" he roared.

Wash cringed inside his armor. "So, y-you're not punishing them?"

"Ingenuity and adaptability are admirable traits," the Director replied, "You should all learn something from this. Dismissed."

As the Director and Counselor left the room, C.T. came up from behind them.

"Yeah," she smirked. "You should learn something alright."

Wash let out a sigh and his shoulder sagged in humility, "I can't believe this."

"Don't forget to check your place on that list, guys," C.T. goaded.

With that, the Freelancers all left the arena but Carolina and Rhode, the latter still in shock at the Director's sudden snap.

"Hey," Carolina said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "You gonna be okay?"

"Y-Yeah," he said, head sagged, "Just a bit of shock."

He walked out but Carolina stood back and watched as a group of mysterious black-suited men helped Texas to her feet.

"Don't touch me," Texas snapped, "Take me back to the Director."

As the black-suited men escorted her away, Texas' armor started to spark blue again and Carolina noted it with narrowed eyes, "Interesting..."

 **XXX**

 **Next up, I'm adding something else to the story: A solo mission for Rhode. Till next time guys!**


	6. Chapter 5: Solo in Sidewinder

**Chapter 5: Solo in Sidewinder**

"Agent Rhode Island," FILSS announced on the intercom, "Please report to the main hanger."

Rhode and Carolina were sparring against each other when they heard.

"What do you think that's about?" Carolina asked.

"No idea," Rhode said, "Hopefully nothing bad."

 **XXX**

When Rhode arrived at the main hanger, the Director was waiting.

"Agent Rhode," he said, "I have an assignment for you."

"Yes sir," Rhode said, "What is it?"

"Thanks to information we received from Bjørndal, we have discovered a secret base on Sidewinder. It's small, but it's been manufacturing strange half alien weapons. We need you to break in and destroy the facility, without getting caught."

"Yes sir," Rhode said, before frowning, "Wait, alone?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"No sir, it's just... I've never done a solo mission. Am I really the right choice?"

"There's a first time for everything, Rhode. With York in the infirmary, I have no one else more qualified."

'Don't know if that's a compliment or an insult, but okay,' Rhode thought before saying, "Yes sir. I won't disappoint."

"Good. Dismissed."

Rhode was a bit nervous as he walked away. Every mission he had done was with either Carolina or his team. But like the Director had said: First time for everything.

 **XXX**

A few hours later, Rhode landed on Sidewinder, the planet encased in snow and ice.

"Gah!" Rhode said, as soon as he stepped out of his Pelican-class airship, "I knew it would be cold, but geez!"

He walked in the bitter cold for a few minutes before arriving at a drop-off. He looked down and saw his target: a circular base with a shooting range out front. No wonder it had avoided detection for so long. It was just a small base in the middle of nowhere.

He looked at the shooting range and saw two soldiers talking and one had a strange looking rifle in his hands. Rhode switched on cloaking mode and listened.

"Okay," the soldier told his friend, "You've _gotta_ see this."

The soldier aimed his rifle at a dead tree and fired once. The tree immediately disintegrated when the laser blast hit, and Rhode's eyes widened.

"And to think," the guy with the gun said, "That they're making Spartan Laser versions of these!"

Rhode stumbled back in alarm.

'If just a small army should have those,' he thought, 'We don't have a chance. I've got to blow this place sky high, or we're doomed.'

He slipped back and got closer to the building and slipped inside. The HUD on his helmet gave a layout of the base and where to place the bombs. He placed the bombs in their correct positions, avoiding all the guards that he could.

However, as soon as the last bomb was put in place, a feminine voice spoke, "Well, what have we here?"

Rhode turned and saw a female Insurrectionist with black and grey armor with pink highlights. She carried a standard rifle and on her hips were two strange looking swords.

"Oh you know," Rhode answered, "Just blowing up your base. No big deal."

She sneered and fired her rifle. Rhode just smirked and activated his armor enhancement: a light shield. The bullets bounced harmlessly off the shield and one bounced back and knocked the gun out of her hands.

She recoiled, but soon glared, even more ticked off, and drew her swords. Rhode pulled out his sniper rifle.

"Why'd you bring knives to a gun fight?" He asked before shooting.

But, the woman swung one her knives just as the gun fired. Rhode heard two small dinks hit the ground.

'What?' He thought, 'But I only fired once... Oh.'

She had sliced the bullet in half. Rhode fired more times, but each bullet was either deflected or cut by the blades.

'Who is she? Wade Wilson?' he thought before dropping his gun.

She charged at him and they engaged in hand to hand combat. Rhode kept dodging the blades and punching her, but that only did so much. He knew he wasn't going to endure for much longer.

 **XXX**

 **MOTHER OF INVENTION**

 **MAIN HANGER**

It would seem," the Counselor told the Director, "That Rhode has been caught."

The Director sighed, "I had a feeling he would. Is Agent Texas on her way?"

"Yes sir. She should be entering the building as we speak."

"Good," the Director said with a frown at Number Three's poor excuse for stealth.

But when he did, he couldn't help but grin.

 **XXX**

 **SIDEWINDER**

Things weren't going well. This woman seemed to have unlimited stamina while Rhode was running dry. He made a grab for her left arm with his right, but that was a big mistake. As soon as his hand grabbed the arm, her right arm swung down.

Rhode's right arm was cut clean off from the elbow down. He screamed out in pain and the girl kicked him away. He landed on his back, clutching his new right stub of an arm, losing blood fast.

"Looks like someone's gonna be missing this," the woman chuckled, throwing Rhode's arm over to him.

"I would say I've been through worse," he said through gritted teeth, "But that would be a lie."

She raised her sword and Rhode closed his eyes, waiting for the end. But it never came. He heard a loud punch and he opened his eyes. In front of him, the girl was knocked out and a familiar figure in black armor stood above him.

"Texas?" He groaned.

"Do you still have the detonator?" She asked.

He nodded slowly, patting his hip, where the detonator was.

"Good. Now come on."

She picked him up and carried him like a sack of potatoes to her Pelican, which was parked nearby. She strapped him up and took the detonator. She walked over and took the pilot's seat. A minute after she took off, she pressed the button on the detonator. Though they were miles away, she could still see the explosion.

 **XXX**

 **MOTHER OF INVENTION**

 **INFIRMARY**

Carolina sat next to an unconscious Rhode and stared at his wrapped up stump of an arm. She felt extremely sorry for what happened. Was Rhode even going to continue as a Freelancer? Was all that training she gave him for nothing? It certainly seemed like it when she saw the leaderboard after he got back. He was still on it, but now, he was at the bottom of the main leaderboard.

"Agent Carolina?" a medic asked, walking in, "We need you to leave. We have to take care of him now."

She nodded reluctantly and left.

'Why did it have to be solo?' She wondered, 'Why couldn't his team go? Why couldn't _I_ go? He might not have lost an arm if I was there!'

"You okay?" Wash asked, walking up to her.

"Yeah," she answered, "I'm fine."

"Don't worry," he reassured her, "I'm sure Rhode will be fine."

"If you call 'having only one arm' fine," she said, "I'm gonna see the Director about this."

 **XXX**

"You don't need to concern yourself with him," the Director told her, "He failed, and those are the consequences of failure. Understand?"

She wanted so badly to retort something, but she didn't want to be on the Director's bad side.

"Yes sir," she said.

"Good. Dismissed."

 **XXX**

 **Man, writing this was a bit tougher than I thought. Oh well. Till next time guys!**


	7. Chapter 6: Planning the Heist

**Chapter 6: Planning the Heist**

 **MOTHER OF INVENTION**

 **MAIN BRIEFING ROOM**

On the bridge, the Director stared through the window down onto the planet below and gave a mysterious smile. From the data collected from Bjørndal, he was able to trace the location of their next target, the device that could prove to be useful to Project Freelancer. However, he knew that security would be tight in that area due to the actions of Agent South Dakota and Rhode Island. Thankfully, he knew that his team of Freelancers would retrieve the target from those that opposed him, provided that his calculations were correct...

But Rhode would be an issue. Even though the doctors have taken care of his 'one arm problem', Rhode was still a... threat to the mission, if you could call it that. He'd noticed Carolina's strange closeness with him and looked down on that. He needed his number one Agent to be attentive, not be distracted by another Agent. Plus, Rhode has been a bit more rebellious now, questioning orders. If this grew, that would be a real problem. The Director needed a way to get rid of Rhode Island discretely. Luckily, this next mission provided the perfect opportunity.

At that moment, a glowing blue Spartan-II appeared before him.

"Okay, well I just ran everything again," he said in a rather snarky voice, "All calculations are up to date, taking into account standard delays for communication and response time. Our window looks good!"

The Director smiled pleasingly, "I agree."

"Well, you should," the figure replied haughtily, "I'm sure you'd make the same calculations I did, just you know... more slowly."

The Director raised a disapproving eyebrow, "Arrogance is a rather unbecoming trait, Alpha."

"Are you seriously giving me a lecture on arrogance right now?" Alpha gave a snort then he looked up, "Heads up, you've got a visitor."

"Director?" a voice called out.

The Director turned to find Agent Carolina standing in the doorway.

"Uh, just one second..." He then turned to Alpha, "Log off."

"Yeah, yeah, way ahead of you, bud," Alpha replied then he disappeared.

The Director then turned his full attention back to his top Freelancer, "Yes, Agent Carolina?"

"The team is ready, sir," she said.

"Excellent," the Director beamed, "Let us begin."

He followed Carolina out of the bridge and into the main briefing room where the Counselor and several Freelancers were waiting around the mission table which was showing a hologram of the planet. He took a moment to regard the team he had gathered for this mission.

Agents Maine and Connecticut were easily recognizable by their respective helmets that they held under their arms. Agents North Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming stood at either side of the table, their helmets by their side, while at the back, Pilot 479er stood to attention next to Agent Florida.

One Freelancer was wearing pale yellow armor with red highlights and standing next to Rhode. This was Agent Arizona, or Zona. Next to her and North, in gray armor with cyan highlights, was Agent Pennsylvania, or Penny. Next to North, in blue armor with black highlights, was Agent Tennessee, or Tenn.

Agent Rhode Island stood next to 479er, staring at his right arm. Though it was covered by his new armor, his lower right arm was now completely mechanical, which worked just as good, if not better, than his real arm. As an added bonus, he no longer needed a direct line back to command to activate his light shield. Since using it without the line would normally damage the arm, the enhancement would no longer be a threat of hurting him.

The Director then cleared his throat and began the briefing, "Agents, your mission today is by far the most important you have undertaken to date! As our Number One, Carolina will be leading from the field."

"Thank you, Sir!" Carolina stepped forward and pressed some buttons on the table.

A blue graph appeared on the surface and the planet sank down into it as she took up the sitrep.

"Okay, here's what we have. As you may have heard, there is suspected Insurrection activity in this area. Our intel says that members of the UNSC loyal to the Insurrection have acquired a high-level asset and are holding it in this secure area."

The holographic image shifted into several buildings and Carolina pointed to one that was taller than the others.

"It's a hundred-and-ten-story building in the middle of an urban environment."

"What does security look like?" Wyoming asked.

"Apparently enough troops to fill a hundred-and-ten-story building," Rhode replied.

"Exactly," Carolina confirmed.

"So," Wyoming murmured, running a hand over his neatly-groomed mustache, "That's a lot of security."

"We're up to it," Carolina reassured, "Our job is to infiltrate the building, work our way up to the floor where the Sarcophagus is being held, and secure it."

North raised an eyebrow, "The Sarcophagus?"

"That is what we are calling the primary objective," the Director explained.

"But," Carolina continued, "Since this is a high-level asset, we need to access a key code to open the Sarcophagus."

"I'm guessing they don't keep that just taped to the side," Washington sighed.

"Right," Carolina agreed, "It's held by Rhee Sebiel, an official of the program who will be moving in a vehicle along the freeway between inspections."

On the hologram, a ribbon of road appeared alongside the city, with several cars running along it. One of the cars flashed red and stopped in the middle, showing an image of the official's face over it.

"That's when we'll hit the facility. We need to acquire the targets within minutes of each other. We fail that, the remaining target will enter lockdown and we miss our window."

"We will _not_ have another chance at this," the Director emphasized.

"So that means two teams," Wash realized.

"Two teams," Carolina agreed, "Team A will consist of me, Rhode, Zona, Penny, Wash, and Maine."

At the sound of his name, Maine cracked his knuckles and gave a deep chuckle.

"We will work on infiltration on the Package's storage facility. Zona and Penny will guard our entry point and make sure we aren't followed. York is still in the infirmary, so Wash, you will have to pull off picking duty."

"Um... okay," Wash muttered nervously, "Guess I'll re-read my field manual on the transport."

"Hey, don't be so quick to give away my job," a familiar voice called out.

The Freelancers spun round to see York standing in the doorway, fully armored and with a cheeky grin on his scarred face.

"York?" Wash gasped.

"I thought you were in the hospital," Carolina exclaimed.

"According to their records, I am," York said, winking with his right eye.

Rhode noted his faded left eye and the blood still trickling through the wounds on his cheek, "How's your eye?"

"It's okay," York insisted, "Docs are lettin' me out tomorrow."

Wash didn't look so sure, "Tomorrow, huh?"

York sighed and went up to the table, "Look, I couldn't let you guys have all the fun without me. Besides, you need someone to get you in."

Wash nodded slowly then turned to Carolina, "Listen, I'm happy to see him too, but this mission... I don't know..."

"Hey, if York says he's good, then he's good," Carolina said.

Wash sighed and gave a shrug, "It's your call, boss."

Carolina then stepped up to York and hissed, "You're good, right?"

"Okay, look, I said I was _okay_ ," York admitted, "Good might be overselling it a little."

"It's settled, then," the Director decided, "York will join Team A and get them in the facility."

"Thank you, Sir," York said.

Carolina then resumed the briefing, "Transport will be two lightly-equipped Pelican drop-ships."

"We're rigged for fast running only, people," Four Seven Niner spoke up, "No heavy armaments."

"Team B will be North, Tenn, Wyoming, and C.T. You will act as recon for Team A, and once we enter the building, you will disengage to attack the target on the freeway. North will lead Team B."

"Got it," North said.

"What about Agent South?" C.T. asked.

"Agent South will not be accompanying you on this mission," the Director replied simply.

C.T. glanced at the leader board behind her and gave a knowing smirk, "Hmm, guess the world's a tough place when you move down a rank."

"Tell me about it," Rhode mumbled, not loud enough for anyone to hear.

"And where's our new recruit?" C.T. asked, "Will she be joining us?"

"That's enough questions, Connecticut," the Director snapped.

C.T. then turned to Wash, "Notice he didn't say no..."

Carolina looked at each team in turn, "Team B should be simple. Stop the vehicle and grab the case. Team A, you have more of a challenge. Mainly, the Sarcophagus is an unknown."

Wash looked intrigued, "How unknown are we talking?"

"Unknown in that we don't know its size, or its weight, or its dimensions. We just know it will have these markings somewhere on the exterior."

Carolina pressed some buttons and the hologram of the city faded and was replaced by a large red symbol shaped like an inverted Y surrounded by three strange markings that none of the Freelancers knew.

North's eyes narrowed as he examined the symbol, "I saw those same markings on the oil platform."

"Correct," the Director confirmed, "That facility created the primary objective."

"Do we know what's inside it?" Wash asked.

"Yes, we know."

"How do we know what's in it, but not how big it is?" C.T. asked.

The Director glared silently at her and she turned away, "Sorry, Sir."

"We have a job to do, people," Carolina announced, "Let's do it right and come home safe."

"That is all," the Director concluded, "You are dismissed!"

"Yes, Sir!" The Freelancers stood to attention then they set off out the briefing room and down to the docking bay.

As he followed the others, North spotted his sister standing by the entrance to the bay. He paused a moment to look at her but she turned away and left. With a sigh, North went after his team as they boarded their Pelican. Penny looked at North in concern. While she didn't care much for South, Penny was quite fond of North and hated to see him like this.

When they got on board, Rhode gave out a bit of a sigh.

"Something wrong?" York asked.

"Just a weird feeling that something bad is gonna happen," Rhode answered.

"Hey," York said, clapping him on the shoulder, "Everything will be fine. You've lost an arm. What could be worse?"

"Yeah... I guess you're right."

Outside, the Mother of Invention opened its docking bay doors and the two Pelicans were released from their clamps and dropped towards the planet like bombs before their thrusters switched on and propelled them towards their destination...

 **XXX**

When they began nearing their target, Zona looked at Wash, who was getting a bit tipsy, "You okay?"

"Yeah..." Wash muttered, "I think I need a bag..."

Zona laughed, "You? Airsick?"

"Hey! Airsickness is more common than you think!"

"Oh shut up, Vomit Boy."

 **XXX**

 **"What could be worse?". Basically, the equivalent of "What could go wrong?". Till next time guys!**


	8. Chapter 7: The Sarcophagus

**Chapter 7: The Sarcophagus**

 **THE CITY OF THE INSURRECTIONISTS**

The two Freelancer Pelicans approached the city from the coast, flying low over the water like the birds they were named after. As they neared the shore, they banked up and made straight for the metropolis.

On the flight deck of Pelican Bravo, North glanced through the main window at their target. The building loomed high up the city like a giant's middle finger, almost like the Insurrectionists were showing their defiance at the UNSC.

After taking a look at the scanners, North turned on his helmet radio and contacted Carolina on a secure channel.

"Team A, you look clear. Window is open. Start your clocks. On my mark... Mark."

"Sync," Carolina replied, "Roger that. Team A is moving."

North looked out to see that Pelican Four Seven Niner was swooping towards the tower, "Copy that, Carolina. Good luck, Team A."

"Thanks," Carolina replied confidently. "We won't need it."

With a smile, North disconnected the call then made his way into the flight deck where Wyoming, Tenn, and C.T. were waiting, "Alright, Bravo, let's move out. We have 3 minutes until first alert. Let's have our target in hand by 2."

 **XXX**

In the city, Pelican Four Seven Niner hovered low by the base of the tower allowing Team A to jump off then it took off into the sky. Carolina then looked towards the 110 storey building ahead of her and took a deep breath. She wasn't scared of heights, but she had to admit that this was a pretty tall building. She then shook her head and set off into the tower, followed closely by Rhode, York, Washington and Maine. Zona and Penny stayed behind on the first floor to block off any possible intruders.

Soon they had reached the topmost floor and were standing outside a huge thick-steel door.

"We're in," Carolina left Wash and Maine on lookout then stepped up to the door, "York, get up here. How long to crack that lock?"

York confidently flexed his fingers, "Should take about 60 seconds. You can give me 15."

He then stepped forward and Carolina nodded to a glowing light that almost looked like a blue eye.

York gave a short whistle, "Wow, it's a holographic. That's high-end."

"Can you get through it?" Rhode asked.

"Of course I can. You didn't bring me along for my good looks, didn't ya?"

With a cocky smirk, York set to work on the hologram, flicking at the icons that appeared at his fingertips, "Whoever designed this is a genius."

Suddenly a red light flashed up on the ceiling and an alarm began to blare across the passage.

"You were saying?" Carolina gasped.

"Ok, I take it back," York growled, "Whoever designed this is a jerk."

After a few more seconds, the hologram faded and the doors to the vault slid open, "There. Everybody in."

"Thanks, York, but do something about that alarm system. We don't need any more surprises."

"Does saying sorry count as something?"

Carolina just threw an angry glare and York bowed his head, "Hmm, guess not."

"We'll secure the package," Carolina called as she led Wash, Rhode, and Maine into the Vault, "Set some trackers then find a way out of this."

York nodded then set off down the passage, "Moving..."

 **XXX**

Meanwhile in the building's lobby, two Insurrectionist soldiers, dressed in steel-grey armor with maroon highlights, were hanging around waiting for some excitement. The leader of the group had just won his fourth straight game of gin-rummy when the alarms suddenly began to blare.

The other soldier jumped to his feet in fright, scattering the cards everywhere, "What the...?"

The leader jumped up and ran over to the security monitors, scanning the picture of the Freelancers running down the passageway.

"Looks like we got an alert on Sector 7. That's the vault, "He narrowed his eyes and turned to the other soldier, "Take a team up there now..."

 **XXX**

As Carolina led her team into the Vault, she took a quick view of her surroundings. The room was filled with tables laden with various weapons. Some of them she recognized as guns used by the UNSC and others were very alien to her, used by mankind's greatest enemy, the Covenant. Two huge purple planes, known as Banshees, hung from the ceiling by thin cables.

"Alright everyone, spread out," Carolina ordered, "What we need is here somewhere. It's probably something small, easy to miss. Take as many scans as possible, there may be other things we can use."

Maine and Washington began to browse the tables, examining each item like members of the Antiques Road Show. On one table, Maine's eye fell upon a huge rocket-powered grenade launcher with a huge blade under the trigger. A label nearby told that this was a brute shot and he liked the sound of that.

He picked it up and held it out in front of him then he turned to Wash, "What do you think?"

Wash nodded approvingly, "That's a good look."

"Thanks," Maine growled, hooking the gun onto his back.

As Carolina examined a table groaning under the weight of some Gravity Hammers, York contacted her on the radio, "Carolina, motion trackers indicate you got an enemy team outside the door."

"Well, let's hope they're not as good at picking locks as you are, York," Carolina ended the call then turned to the others, "Alright team, we're about to have company."

Rhode ran up to her at that moment, "Boss, I've got good news and bad news."

Carolina turned to look at him expectantly, "Hit me."

"We found the markings we're looking for. The bad news is..." Rhode turned and pointed down the aisle, "They're on that."

Carolina turned to see a huge tomb-like box in the middle of the Vault. On one side, she saw the same markings that she'd seen on the hologram tattooed next to a small keypad.

"That?"

On the top of the building, York got on the radio to Carolina, "Team A, I got us an exit up here: straight through the stairwell, door to the roof, helipad."

"Copy, I'll radio air support," Carolina glanced at the Sarcophagus again and frowned in thought, "Now, how are we going to get that thing up to the roof?"

Wash and Maine just shrugged but Carolina had an idea and got back on the radio, "York, I saw a window-washer unit on our way into the facility, can you find where it attaches to the building?"

"I don't know," York replied, turning to the orange lift right next him, "That's a tough one; let me see what I can do."

As Carolina ended the call, Rhode gave her a suspicious stare, "What are you up to?"

Carolina went up to the window and smashed it with the butt of her rifle, and smiled, "Improvising. Come here, Maine."

"Improvising?" Wash groaned, "I hate it when we do that."

Just then, he heard a loud sizzling noise behind him and he turned to see a small blue flame burning through the door seals, which meant only one thing: the Insurrectionists were trying to weld their way into the Vault.

"Better hurry!"

Behind him, the washer lift had arrived and Carolina shoved the Sarcophagus onto the unit while Maine nervously tied the cable around his waist, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Maine, it should work fine," Carolina reassured, "You're the only one heavy enough to counter-balance this thing."

Maine glanced out the window and gave a fearful gulp, "Too high..."

"Oh, don't be a baby," with that, Carolina kicked Maine out the window then raised her pistol and shot through the wire holding up the lift.

Suddenly the whole platform shot up to the roof like it had rockets on its base, the winches above squealing with the speed.

As Maine plummeted down the side of the building, a guard, Anthony, who had survived the explosion at Bjørndal, spun round and just missed him. "Hey, did you hear that noise?"

"Probably the sound of you being an idiot," his companion, Ian, retorted.

"Oh, you're probably right..." Anthony muttered, turning back around before adding, "...Jerk."

Up above, the lift finally reached the top, smashing through the winches and launching the Sarcophagus up to crash right next to York, "Package is here."

Ninety below, Maine quickly swung into the floor he'd stopped at before the broken lift could crush him. As he untied the cable, he turned round to see several guards running towards him, weapons drawn.

"Stop right there or we'll... shoot?" the lead soldier trailed off when he saw Maine towering over them, "We-we're gonna need bigger handcuffs."

Then he spotted the weapon on the Freelancer's back, "Is-is that a knife? Rifle? Uh... knifle?"

With a sinister growl, Maine drew out his brute shot and smirked at the guards, "Say hello to my little friend..."

Then he charged straight towards the soldiers.

Up in the Vault, Carolina could hear the dying screams of the guards, "Well, that oughta buy us some time."

Rhode grimaced as he saw one guard get thrown out the window, "I almost feel bad for the people down there."

"Don't," Carolina warned.

"What? I said 'almost'."

Just then, the door behind them was blasted open but all three of them quickly whipped out their rifles and gunned down the guards before they could set foot into the Vault. As the smoke began to settle, they saw a huge figure stomping into the room and at the sight of him, Rhode's eyes widened.

He was dressed in steel-grey armor with maroon highlights, his visor was patterned with two rows of teeth like a shark's, a flame sticker was prominent on his chest and he wielded a huge weapon patterned with a shark head.

"Sharkface..." Rhode growled.

Wash gulped and turned to Carolina nervously, "What the crap is with this guy?"

Suddenly a stream of flame shot out from the weapon's nozzle, forcing the Freelancers to dive behind the tables.

"WHOA, that's hot!" Wash yelped.

Rhode fired at Sharkface, but the bullets just bounced harmlessly off his armor, "Crap, he's got bullet-proof armor!"

"Let's see how tough he really is!" Wash grabbed a grenade and hurled towards Sharkface but he fired his flames at it, making it explode.

Then he fired at Wash, forcing the Freelancer back, "Oh come on!"

Rhode kept firing until he was out of bullets, hoping that one would pierce the armor. Nothing. He covered behind the same table as Carolina, who got up.

"I've got this!" Carolina raised her pistol again but then the weapons on the table she had hidden behind began to spark erratically.

"What the-" They suddenly exploded with the heat and sent her flying back.

"Carolina!" Rhode gasped.

Wash then spotted a weapon landing next to her. Ducking down to avoid the flames, he dived for the gun, snatched it up, took aim and fired a ball of green energy at Sharkface's feet but as it hit the floor, it bounced right past him and hit the ceiling.

"What the heck?" Wash cried, "It bounces?! Who designs a gun that bounces? This is the worst gun ever, of all- OOF!!!"

His rant was cut off as Carolina pushed him out of the way of the flames.

"Stay low!" she ordered.

Carolina then pressed a button on her hip and took off across the room like a cheetah. She leapt over the flames, ran up the side of the wall and somersaulted backwards onto the wing of one of the Banshees. She then fired at Sharkface to get his attention. In return he fired a stream of flame at her, burning through the ship's cables. Carolina then tossed a grenade into the ship's cockpit then jumped off seconds before the cables snapped and the grenade went off, sending the Banshee flying backwards into Sharkface and sending him sprawling to the floor.

As Carolina landed nimbly on her feet, Rhode then grabbed a Gravity Hammer and hurled it at the recovering soldier, smashing through his armor.

Wash got to his feet and stared at Sharkface, who was on the ground, who laid there still as a rock, "That guy was a _jerk_!"

"Come on," Carolina ordered, "Let's get moving guys."

As they ran out the Vault, Rhode glanced at the carnage around him, "That bit with the purple plane; that was just showing off."

But he was happy nonetheless. The murderer of his family was gone. But now, back to business. He could celebrate later.

However, he was interrupted by a voice on the radio, "Agent Rhode come in."

"Director?" He asked, "What is it?"

"I need you to go one level down and access a computer," the Director ordered, "More information would be good for us."

"But sir, that's not part of the mission."

"It wasn't a question Rhode! Get down there."

"...Yes sir."

He turned to go back and gave his 'see ya laters' to Carolina and Wash. With that, he ran down the stairs.

When he got down to the floor below them, he started looking for a computer to hack into. After a few minutes of searching, he finally found one. He plugged in his helmet to it and waited.

But he was soon interrupted by a giant blast tearing through the middle of the building.

 **XXX**

 **Dun dun dun! Cliffhanger! Man, the Director wanted Rhode dead... Till next time guys!**


	9. Chapter 8: The Chase

**Chapter 8: The Chase**

"This _must_ be karma for kicking Maine out the window!" Carolina cried as they ran when the Mother of Invention's blast tore through the building.

"I don't wanna DO THIIIIIISSSSS!" York screamed.

"OH NOOOOOOOOOO!" Wash yelled.

They reached the edge of the roof and dived right over the edge, streamlining their bodies as they went after the Sarcophagus, dodging falling soldiers and building debris. The Pelican dived after them, drawing alongside the falling Freelancers.

Soon Carolina caught up to the falling Sarcophagus and landed right on top, her magnetic boot-clamps attaching to its side as she rode on it like a surfboard.

"Line it up!" 479er called through her radio, "Come on! Come on! Stay on target!"

Carolina watched as the Pelican overtook her then opened its hatch. But then two Hornets swooped out of the clouds and opened fired on her. She jumped aside to avoid the blows and Wash quickly took her place, shooting a Hornet down in mid-air.

Just then Texas appeared behind him and pushed the Sarcophagus right into the flight deck, sending Wash sprawling on the floor, "Ow..."

As Texas crashed down beside him, her armor started to spark blue.

"Hold on!" the pilot called as she pulled the Pelican out of the dive and flew out of the city.

Texas then appeared at the doorway, "Get the package back to Command, now!"

"On it!" 479er replied.

Outside, York and Carolina, still in freefall above the city, watched helplessly as the Pelican flew away.

"Well, there goes our ride," York sighed.

"You think maybe we should've had a fallback plan?" Carolina muttered.

"Hey, what happened to Maine?" York realized.

And then suddenly mere moments before they could hit the ground, an armored jeep burst out of the building right beneath them. Carolina grabbed onto the turret while York caught a hold of the roof.

"Whoa!" York yelled, "Are we in a car?!"

Explosions ripped through the building's insides as it crumbled down to the ground. Then the jeep roared right out of the tunnel and onto the freeway. Carolina gasped as she came to a horrible realization: Rhode was _still in there_.

As bad as things were at the moment, things were also looking grim for Team B. As soon as their jeep had come within sight of the car that Rhee Sebial was in, the police escorts had opened fire on them, forcing their jeep to crash. They quickly took cover behind their vehicle and returned fire, but Wyoming took a hit on the shoulder and went down fast so C.T. broke off her fire to examine him, leaving North and Tenn to face the police alone.

Now as North pulled back to reload his rifle, Carolina's voice called to him through his helmet radio, "Team B, report. Team B!"

"Team B is down!" North reported before frowning at her shaken voice, but ignored it, "We have wounded, and are taking fire!"

"We'll be right there."

"Negative," North said, "Get the package and get it out of the city."

Further up the road, Carolina nodded, "Roger that."

As Maine kept the jeep going as fast as he could, York quickly typed in some numbers on the tracking screen.

"Reading Team B's tracker..." at last, the screen started beeping and a red light flashed on the map, "Okay, there he is. I got it."

Carolina was silent and York put a hand on her shoulder, "Hey. It'll be okay."

"... Okay," she answered sadly, before getting back to business, "We'll cut 'em off at the overpass. Go, go!"

With a nod, Maine took the next turnoff onto the bridge and set off in pursuit.

Carolina, York and Maine had reached the bridge that went over the main freeway and waited.

Then they spotted Rhee's car approaching them and Carolina turned to Maine, "Get ready."

Maine nodded and climbed onto the railing on the other side.

Then just before the car reached the bridge, Carolina yelled out, "Now!"

With that, Maine leapt off the bridge and landed neatly on the bonnet of the car, "Stop this vehicle and hand over the package... NOW!"

"What the-?" Rhee quickly spun the wheel round and swerved the car, trying to throw the Freelancer off.

But Maine managed to cling on tight then he whipped out his brute shot and turned it so that the blade was facing Rhee, "Looks like we're gonna do this the hard way..."

 **XXX**

York drove the jeep down the road for a while until he spotted Maine waving to them by the wreck of Rhee's car.

As he pulled up, the bigger Freelancer smiled and held up a white briefcase, "Going my way?"

Behind the turret, Carolina said, "Nice work, Maine."

"Thanks," Maine grunted, sticking the case onto his back as he climbed into the jeep.

"Yeah, subtle as always," York muttered, noticing the brute shot's blood-stained blade, "Response team is probably on the way."

Carolina nodded, "Let's get outta here."

"Hold on!" York slammed his foot on the pedal and the jeep took off across the highway, ducking and dodging around the traffic, "Coming through! 'Scuse me! Look out!"

Carolina then heard the sound of jet engines behind them and turned round to see two Insurrectionist Hornets diving out of the sky towards them, "Here they come!"

As the Hornets drew closer, three Insurrectionists wearing jetpacks leapt out of the back and flanked around them.

"Behind us!" York yelped.

Carolina opened fire on them with the turret, but the soldiers ducked around some passing trucks, letting them take the hits. One soldier, who carried a sniper rifle, sped on ahead and landed on the back of a flatbed truck before taking aim at the Freelancers.

"Maine, protect the briefcase!" Carolina yelled as she fired.

Maine raised his brute shot to fire, but then he spotted an infrared laser beam and followed back to where Sniper was. Acting quickly, he dived in front of Carolina just as Sniper fired, taking the hit on his chest.

"Maine?" Carolina turned round to see the taller Freelancer slumping forward then she gasped.

"Sniper!" She ducked aside as the soldier fired again.

Carolina ducked behind the turret, "Punch it!"

"It's punched!" York yelled back.

Then one Insurrectionist, with blonde hair sticking out from the bottom of her helmet, landed on the jeep's bonnet and raised her shotgun but Carolina jumped to the front, knocked the gun away and kicked Blondie off the car. Carolina recognized her as the soldier who cut off Rhode's arm. Just what Carolina needed, a reminder of Rhode. But then Blondie switched on her jetpack, whipped out a knife and swung out at Carolina, knocking towards the edge of the bonnet.

Behind them, Maine began to stir but then Blondie planted her foot on his back, knocking him out again, and snatched the briefcase off his back. But then Carolina ran forward and kicked Blondie back, sending the case flying.

Carolina fumbled with for a moment before getting a firm grip on it, "Got it."

But then the second Insurrectionist, who wore a sleeveless suit of armor, dived down and kicked Carolina off the jeep, grabbing the case back. Carolina grabbed onto the bonnet and pulled herself back on as Sleeveless raised his rifle and pointed it at the still-unconscious Maine's head.

"Hold on!" York swerved the jeep hard left, flinging Sleeveless forward.

The soldier bumped into Carolina and they both flew off the jeep and landed on a truck, scattering its load of oil drums like skittles.

As York swerved to avoid the barrels, Maine stirred in his seat, "What happened? What did I miss?"

"Just about everything!" York cried.

On the truck, Carolina managed to retrieve the briefcase but then Blondie dived out of the sky and fired at her, sending the Freelancer into cover. At the same time, Sleeveless picked up a barrel and flung it towards the jeep, knocking its turret off.

"Would you quit throwing stuff?!" York bellowed.

Then he spotted the truck with Sniper on board drawing up next to him, "On your left, on your left!"

Sniper raised his rifle and fired at them, but York swerved back to avoid the hit then rammed the jeep right into the truck, sending Sniper flying. The soldier switched on his jetpack to regain his balance and took after the jeep, but as he drew up to them, Maine punched him back into the path of a barrel and he was knocked back down again.

York then sped up the jeep until it drew up alongside the barrel truck, "Watch it! Watch it!"

Maine leapt off the jeep to rugby-tackle Blondie but she jumped out of the way then kicked him back into Carolina, leaving the two Freelancers back to back as they faced their opponents. Maine felt the briefcase clip onto his back then he charged towards Sleeveless while Carolina fought it out with Blondie.

"On the right!" York tossed the brute shot out and Carolina snatched it out of the air.

She then did a Matrix-style jump to avoid the bullets fired at her before she plunged the brute shot's blade into Blondie's chest.

But as she fell back, Blondie tossed her pistol over to Sleeveless, who caught it before punching Maine back. As the Freelancer swung his fist out, Sleeveless caught it then fired the pistol right into Maine's throat. He then threw Maine to the floor and held him down with his foot as he fired at his throat again and again.

"NOOO!" Carolina tackled Sleeveless off her friend and swung the brute shot down at him but he ducked aside and kicked her away.

The wounded Blondie then flew into the fray. Behind them, Maine staggered to his feet, blood pouring down his throat, and grabbed his brute shot.

"Have to... help... Carolina..." he gurgled, taking aim at the Insurrectionists.

But just as he pressed the trigger, Blondie fired at his shoulder, disrupting his aim and making him hit the rear of the truck. The Truck swerved round violently and smashed into a car, sending its four unknown hitchhikers flying through the air.

As she flew, Carolina reached out for the briefcase still on Maine's back but just missed and landed on the back of York's jeep. Maine however bounced off the road a few times before a speeding truck smashed him right off the road. Sleeveless snatched up the briefcase and took off towards his Hornet.

Behind them, Texas roared round her other pursuer and fired at the Hornet, but Sleeveless ducked to avoid the bullets. The Hornet then dived into a tunnel, its rotor smashing the door controls. Texas gunned her cycle and took off into the tunnel.

Carolina gasped as she saw the doors begin to slide, "Don't let her grab it first!"

"Who cares who gets it first?" York yelled.

"I do!"

But as they drew closer, Carolina realized that the jeep wouldn't make it through in time, "Bail out!"

"Bailing!" York leapt out of the jeep and rolled down the road.

Carolina mounted the jeep's roof and rode it like a surfboard towards the closing doors. Then just before the tunnel was completely sealed shut, she leapt through the gap and activated her speed unit, hitting the ground running as she set off after Texas.

Outside the tunnel, York staggered to his feet and stared at the burning wreckage of the jeep by the tunnel's doors.

"Man, I've got to quit jumping off stuff today," He then spotted Pelican Four-Seven-Niner approaching and waved his arms to flag it down.

In the tunnel, Carolina spotted the Hornet up ahead and urged herself to speed up, ducking around cars as she drew up next to Texas, "Fall back, Agent Carolina. I've got this!"

"You fall back!" Carolina retorted.

Texas scowled at her and accelerated her bike. The Hornet left the tunnel and began to ascend but Texas drove her bike up an off-ramp and bailed out just as it left the end. Sleeveless spotted the bike approaching and jumped off just as it smashed into the Hornet in a fiery explosion. He quickly switched on his jetpack and took off.

Texas flipped round and landed on her feet just as Carolina overtook her. As Sleeveless flew away from the highway, she leapt over the traffic barrier and fired her grappling hook at a crane, swinging over the buildings like Spiderman. She landed on a rooftop and took off after Sleeveless, jumping over the roofs in pursuit. Eventually she caught up to him and dived straight at him, knocking him out of the sky and onto the road.

Sleeveless' jetpack skidded across the road, propelling them down the road like a rocket-powered skateboard. He swung out at Carolina but she raised her fist and punched him right in the face, sending them tumbling down the road. A truck smacked into the back of Sleeveless and sent him flying, knocking the briefcase off his back. Carolina quickly curled into a ball as she skidded right under the lorry, but its back bumper hit her armor and she was sent flying through the air before smacking into a traffic barrier and crashing to the ground.

With a groan, she staggered to her feet, her helmet slipping off her head. As she shook her head, sending her fiery-red hair whipping round her face, she looked around and spotted the briefcase on the other side of the road... just as Texas walked over and picked it up.

"Command, the package is secure," Texas announced over her radio. "Heading home."

"Excellent work, Agent Texas," the Director replied.

"Thank you, sir." As she ended the call, Texas turned and nodded to the blue Freelancer, "Better luck next time, Carolina."

Then she jumped over the barrier and disappeared.

 **XXX**

Carolina, all in all, was having a really sucky day. Rhode's death has been hard on everyone, especially her. Secretly, she blamed Agent Texas. She was the one who planted that targeter. Carolina hated her even more for that.

"See ya later Carolina!" He had said.

She felt a tear slip down her cheek, knowing she'll never see him again. And apparently Rhode wasn't the only one caught up in the building collapse. Zona and Penny, who had been loyally standing in the first floor, died due to the skyscraper collapsing on top of them.

Tenn had probably taken the losses the hardest. He lost his entire team in a single mission. And while he was quiet and reserved from them, he still cared. In fact, his teammates were really the only people he really cared about. Carolina felt sorry for him in that regard.

Not only that, Carolina had lost her place on the leaderboard to Tex. For so many months, she had been at the top of the ranking, everyone looked up to her and even the Director showed great praise for her. But then this Texas woman showed up out of nowhere, and in one fell swoop, everything changed. She was still admired by the other Freelancers, but the other staff paid more attention to Texas. She fervently hoped that one day, she would show that woman who was the true top dog. And what she did to Rhode was unforgivable.

Behind her, the Director gave a small cough and Carolina turned to face him, "Our next phase is ready to begin, Carolina. We will be asking you to do a great, many things."

"I'm ready, Sir," Carolina replied.

The Director sat up in his seat and gave her a serious look, "Some of these things might be... questionable."

Carolina gave a short nod, "I'll do whatever it takes. You've given me everything. I would do anything for you."

She then smiled to herself. Questionable or not, if whatever this next phase did would make her better than Texas and avenge Rhode, nothing else would matter...

The Director also smiled to himself. With the death of Agent Rhode and the addition of bumping her down to number Two, Carolina would be more driven than ever. And with that he dismissed her and he walked back to the main hanger.

When Carolina got back to her barracks, she sat down on her bed and did what she hadn't done in a long time. She cried.

 **XXX**

 **Poor Carolina... But what really happened? Till next time guys!**


	10. Chapter 9: Survival and a Friend

**Chapter 9: Survival and a Friend**

At the ruins of the Insurrectionist Skyscraper, a green armored hand shot out from under a pile of rubble. The hand cleared away the debris around it to reveal a soldier with battered green armor with blue highlights.

Unknown to anyone in Project Freelancer, Agent Rhode Island was still very much alive. And mightily ticked off. He had noticed that the blast that shot through the building had undoubtedly belonged to the Mother of Invention's main cannon. No other blast was that big.

As his helmet fell off, he knew he couldn't show his face at the Project again. He ruffled his messy black hair and wondered if he should try to contact Carolina or somebody secretly and tell them what happened. But he decided against that. For all he knew, the Project monitored all radio messages by the Freelancers. It wasn't worth the risk. Plus, there was no way that he could break into the Mother of Invention without getting caught. He remembered what happened last time he tried stealth.

The best he could do is lay low until this war ends. Only problem was that he wasn't in the best condition. All he had was near broken armor, a near busted sniper rifle with no ammo, no money, no home, and he felt that his robot arm might be a bit loose. Even he hadn't started this bad after his family died.

Then he noticed a nearby building that was covered in dust by the skyscraper collapse. He looked closer and saw that it was an Insurrectionist ship port with dozens of perfectly fine Pelican ships in it. And all of those Pelicans had a year's worth of food in them. And nobody was in sight.

He smiled to himself, "There's my ticket out of here."

He hardwired the nearest one, raided the others, and took off. He thought about where to go and Earth's UNSC building was the first place that came to mind. He had to tell the Chairman what had happened. Only problem was that he had no proof.

So, he went to the only place he could go: his old home. He thought he'd never have to see the place again since he had made Project Freelancer his home. But it was all he had left.

 **XXX**

When he arrived a year later (a Pelican can only be so fast), he visited the cemetery first to pay his respects.

"Mom," he said, "Dad. I know you probably can't hear me... But I miss you. Especially now. I have no one left..."

After that, he headed back towards where his old house used to be.

But where the house was, there was now a shack, smaller than an old gas station.

"What happened here?" He wondered out loud.

"I don't know," a female voice said behind him, "Why are you staring at my house?"

Rhode jumped and looked behind him. There was a girl probably five years younger than him with pigtails, freckles on her cheeks, and a yellow shirt.

"Ummm," he said, not sure what to say, "This used to be where my old house was."

"Well it's where my house is now," the girl answered, "So you better go now before I call someone."

"Umm, you can't arrest someone for staring at a house," he told her.

"What, are you a cop or something?" She asked, **(A/N: I think you know who this is now)** "Cause if you are, you have to tell me. That's totally a law or something."

"I'm not a cop," Rhode rolled his eyes, "And that's not a real law."

"Well if you're not a cop, then how do you know it's not a real law? Busted!"

"I'm not- I don't- You know what? I give up. Who are you?"

"Like I'm gonna tell you my name, COP!!!"

"I'm not a cop!" Rhode snapped, "My entire family died here, I've lost my new family, and _I just want freaking answers_!!"

She was silent for a moment, registering his words, "...Oh. Well, I'm sorry. I guess I understand. My dad's been dead for a while, my mom ran away to join the circus, and my brother is in the army."

"... Okay..." Rhode said, calming down a bit, also a bit confused by the circus comment, "Well, you can call me Rhode. What's your name?"

"Name's Kaikaina Grif," she said, now with a smile on her face, "But you can call me Sister!"

"Well... Sister," he said with a nervous grin, "When did you move here?"

"Well, me and my brother Dexter were on our own for a while before we built this. Well, I built it. He's a bit lazy."

"I bet," Rhode said, looking at the shack that could fall down at any second.

"We lived here for about a year until he joined the army. I think he went to this place called 'Blood Gulch'."

Rhode raised an eyebrow. He _barely_ remembered hearing about a base called Blood Gulch. It was a simulation facility for Freelancers to practice. Her brother was most likely dead right now, but he didn't say that.

"Yeah, well," he said, "I'm actually ex-military myself. I guess you could say I'm deserting, even though everyone thinks I'm dead."

"Wow. Well, why haven't you told your friends you're alive?"

"...It's a long and complicated story."

"Hey! I got time. Nothing ever happens around here."

He didn't know why he told Sister, but he just did. He supposed it just felt good to let it all out.

When he finished, Sister asked, "Well, since you've had nowhere to go for a while, why don't you stay here?"

"Two reasons. One: I can't ask you to do that. Too nice. But thanks. And two: I've grown used to the Pelican I've been on. I'll be fine staying in that."

"Oh, okay. But if you need a place to stay..."

"I get it. Thanks."

 **XXX**

And that's how it was for two years. Rhode stayed near Sister's house and the two talked like they were next door neighbors. Rhode managed to fix his armor and rifle, and get ammo and a pistol. But two years later, the war ended and Rhode was leaving.

"Do you really have to leave?" Sister asked.

"Yeah," he answered, "I've got to find my friends. They're out there somewhere."

"Okay... Well good luck with Carolina!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing."

He gave a smirk and a two fingered salute and walked onto the ship. But when he turned on the ship, he intercepted a call that a base needed help. They addressed themselves as Blood Gulch Outpost Number One.

Rhode's eyes widened when he heard that. Then he looked at the spare closet and opened it. He never thought he'd have to use this extra suit of yellow armor, but now he had an idea. The trip would only take about five minutes too, since Blood Gulch was only one system away.

"Hey Sister!" He yelled, "You wanna see your brother again?"

 **XXX**

"Okay," he said to Sister once she'd gotten her new yellow armor on, just minutes later, "Here's your story: You're part of Blue Team, you joined the army, heard the signal, took this ship, and arrived at Blood Gulch to replace their killed leader, Butch Flowers. You can improvise from there."

"Why aren't we telling them the truth again?" Sister asked, "And how do you know all that stuff?"

"Because I'm not sure if these guys are fond of Freelancers. I don't want to risk it. Also, I did some research on this ship. It took a bit of hacking, but I discovered a lot about these outposts."

They started their descent on the planet and Rhode pulled a lever for the landing gear. Nothing happened.

"Umm, Sister?" He called, "Strap in! Things are about to get crashy!"

They hit the ground with a big thud and Rhode's head hit the ceiling. Before he passed out, he heard two male voices say:

"Ship's here."

"Shotgun!"

 **XXX**

 **And now Rhode has arrived in that bloody gulch! I'm scared I didn't get Sister's character right, but that shouldn't be a problem now, since this is the time she appears in the show. Till next time guys!**


	11. Chapter 10: Arrivalry

**Chapter 10: Arrivalry**

"Hey, dude? You okay?"

Rhode groaned as he awoke and saw himself on the ground next to a circular base. In front of him were soldiers in different shades of blue. One wore cobalt and had a sniper rifle in his hands, another was cyan with a regular assault rifle, and the third one was plain blue with no weapon in hand.

"He's alive!" The blue one yelled.

"What happened?" Rhode asked.

"We were hoping you would explain that," the cobalt one said, "We found you unconscious on the ship and dragged you out here."

"You were pretty knocked up when we found you," the cyan one said, "Bow chicka bow wow!"

"Tucker," Cobalt said, "Shut up."

"Last thing I remember is crashing here," Rhode explained, "And I hit my head. My name's Rhode. What's your's?"

Cobalt raised an eyebrow when he heard the name, but said, "I'm Church. The cyan one is Tucker, and the guy in regulation blue is Caboose."

"Sup," Tucker said.

"Yay!" Caboose grinned, "A new friend!"

"There's also a medic guy in purple around here," Church continued, "But he's taking Tucker's kid out and about."

"You have a kid?" Rhode asked, looking at Tucker.

"Ehh... I guess," Tucker shrugged.

"Yeah," Caboose said, "We went on a big quest with an alien and a talking bomb, and Tucker had a glowing sword, but it turned out it was just a weird thing to get Tucker impregnated by the alien and have a gross alien baby."

Rhode stared at him. This Caboose guy didn't seem to be all that bright. Then again, these were simulation troopers.

"Anyone care to explain what he meant by that?" Rhode asked.

"Actually, that's actually kind of right," Tucker said, rubbing the back of his head, "I got this sweet sword at a temple and an alien came up..."

So Tucker and Caboose gave a very brief explanation of his quest with Cruchbite the alien, Andy the talking bomb, and someone Caboose kept referring to as 'the mean lady'. Rhode had never been so confused in his life.

Church then explained that an AI named O'Malley was running loose at the moment and took control of people's heads via radios, so Rhode switched his off. Then he remembered the entire reason he came here.

"Hey," he said, "Is there a guy here by the name of Grif? Cause my friend in yellow armor was looking for him."

"What, the girl that was on the ship?" Church asked, "Yeah, she went over to the Reds. That's where Grif is."

Rhode inwardly face palmed. He somehow didn't take into account that Grif would be on the Red team. He just hoped Sister wouldn't bring up what team she was supposed to be on. She wasn't all that bright either.

"Well, I guess I'm stuck here for now," he said, "Soooo... What now?"

 **XXX**

 **(A/N: Yeah, I wasn't sure where I was going with that conversation, so I'm gonna skip to the real episode stuff.)**

After meeting Sheila (He swore that her real name was FILSS), Doc, and Tucker's kid Junior, he hung out with Church while Caboose went inside for his daily nap.

Just then, Tucker approached, "Hey, have you seen Doc? I need him to babysit for a while."

"Yeah, I got him talking to Sheila," Church replied, "She's been actin' real wacky lately."

"Oh yeah? You mean weirder than your average talking tank?"

"Don't be snarky."

"Sorry, dude, it's the hormones. I just had a baby!"

"Yeah," Church sighed, "Sheila's been acting kind of distant and weird, plus she's been saying these random threatening things. It kinda reminds me of somebody else."

"So why is Doc talking to her?" Rhode asked, scratching the top of his helmet.

"What, you didn't hear the 'threatening' part I just said? I'm not going over there."

"Why not send Caboose?" Tucker suggested, "Aren't they like in love or something?"

Church groaned at the idea, "Dude, I've had all the cross-species babies that I can take for a while. The last thing I need is a junior Caboose runnin' around with a hundred and thirty millimeter cannon for a head. Your little devil-spawn is enough for me."

"Don't talk about my kid like that!" Tucker snapped.

"What's your deal?" Church cried, alarmed at his teammate's reaction.

"I don't know," Tucker muttered, rubbing the back of his head in shame, "I think I'm kinda getting into this whole parenting thing. I caught myself looking at minivans the other day."

He gave a shudder.

"Of course you are," Church chuckled, patting his teammate's shoulder, "That's why you need a babysitter for a newborn. I'll be sure to nominate you for Dad of the Year."

"Don't judge me," Tucker murmured.

"Anyway," Church got back on topic, "Doc's gonna figure out what's wrong with her and give her a little tune-up."

"But Doc's not a mechanic," Tucker reminded him, "He's a doctor, wait, not a doctor, a medic. I guess he's not really a medic either 'cause he's never really helped anyone. He's just some annoying guy that we know with purple armor, who's annoying... Point is Doc's not a mechanic."

"I know," Church admitted, peering through the scope of his sniper rifle at Doc and Sheila, "I figure Doc's mechanic skills are probably about as bad as his first aid skills. He's either gonna fix her by accident, or make her completely inoperable and then I can go down there and figure out what's really goin' on. Either way, I win... Oh, he might also get blown up by her, that's also good."

Rhode smirked a bit, "Sneaky. I like it."

At that moment, Doc was still working on some way that he could calm Sheila down.

"Yeah, maybe Yoga lessons weren't such a good idea after all," he chuckled nervously, "Let's try some deep breathing. In through the air filter... out through the manifold... in through the air filter... out through the manifold..."

Sheila just raised her turret and pointed it right at Doc's head.

"Uh, okay," Doc gulped, backing out of range, "Why don't we try some aversion therapy? Think about something that makes you really angry... that isn't me."

"Sure," Sheila grunted and she swiveled her turret around until it was pointed right at Church.

On the hill, Church gulped and ducked back, "Uh, yeah... I don't feel as good about my plan as I used to."

"Hey Blues!"

Church and Rhode whirled round to find Grif and Sister standing in the middle of the canyon, just in front of the Pelican.

"Aw crap, here we go," Church said, "They must have figured out how jacked up our team is right now... Oh crap, they even brought their new guy-"

"Girl," Rhode corrected, "And I think I can take them."

"Whatever!" Church yelled, "Just play along. Act like our team is okay, and we have everything under control."

"Please," Tucker scoffed, "I've been puttin' on that act for like three years now."

Church nodded then turned to Grif and yelled, "What do you want, Red?"

"I got a prisoner for you!" Grif called back.

"What did he say?" Rhode asked.

"He says he has a prisoner for us," Tucker replied helpfully.

"Oh what, they're giving us prisoners now?" Church cried, "Dude, that sounds like bullcrap, I smell a trap."

"Reds aren't that smart," Tucker reminded him.

"Okay, normally I would agree with that," Church replied, "But this is the orange one, he's pretty crafty. He's a lot like me."

"Like you? Crap," Tucker gasped, "Then do I have time to put in my earplugs and hide all our food?"

"Up yours," Church snapped before scratching his head in puzzlement, "Why would they wanna give us one o' their guys?"

"Why are you asking me?" Rhode asked.

"Oh right," Church realized then he yelled out, "Why're you giving us one of your guys as a prisoner?"

"She's one of your guys! She came to our side by mistake!" Grif shook his head in disbelief, "What's their deal, why aren't they going for this? We have to hurry. I gotta get back before Simmons digs up Sarge."

"I don't buy this," Church murmured before shouting, "What do you want for her?"

"Um, nothing," Grif replied, "I-It was an honest mistake, uh... you can have her back now, no harm no foul. Well, look can we hurry this up?"

"Yeah, this is bullcrap," Church decided.

"Ask for something else," Tucker suggested.

Church nodded then yelled, "Uh, we want something else!"

"What!?" Grif screamed, "I'm releasing a hostage! You don't negotiate up from there!"

"Got any money?" Rhode shouted with a smile, clearly enjoying this.

"Screw you, dude!" Grif yelled then he turned to his sister, "Get going, call me if you have any problems, and don't go near any Reds from now on. I'll try to keep our team distracted so they can't attack you. Whatever you do, don't embarrass the family. Think of Mom."

"Don't do me any favors, jerk," Sister snapped, running off towards the Blue Base.

"What else was on the ship?" Church called.

"What do you mean?" Grif shouted.

"Yeah, like guns or weapons..."

"Or snacks," Tucker added then he noticed his leader's look, "Dude, I'm just asking 'cause I know you wanted to."

"Nope, just the girl," Grif replied, "Sorry, there weren't any more aliens for you guys to get impregnated by!"

"That's okay," Tucker yelled, "We can still impregnate this one!"

"Woohoo!" Sister cheered as she joined the Blues.

"Oh come on!" Grif swore, "Never mind, just send her back!"

"No take backs!" Rhode yelled.

"Aw, what the crap?" Grif snapped, before realizing, "Hey, when did they get that guy?"

 **XXX**

 **And that ends the first chapter of Rhode's story in Blood Gulch. Till next time guys!**


	12. Chapter 11: Brass Tacks

**Chapter 11: Brass Tacks**

At the Blue Base, Church decided to give his new team member Sister the complete introductions.

"Well, uh welcome to Blue Team," he started, "I guess we should probably give you some kind of... orientation or somethin' like that."

He then led Sister towards the building, "So this is the, uh, this is the base here. This is the outside of the base... Inside's on the inside... You go through that door right there to get to the inside. Um, there's a ramp over here and there's another one on the other side. It's kinda smaller, does the same thing though. Uh, it's got a basement... um, there's a middle part 'n' there's a top part... got some, you know blue flags here, on the outside... comes in handy when you're, you know tryin' to identify the color of the base; it's blue. Anyway, that uh pretty much covers the base so... anyway, yeah that's it."

"Cool," Sister replied.

"I'm Church, I'm the leader," he then said, "Everybody looks up to me. Pretty much the only rule for rookies on the Blue Team is: Don't kill the leader. That's me."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Sounds easy," she said with a shrug.

"Yeah, well," Church murmured, rubbing the back of his head, "We're still waiting for someone to follow that rule... So anyway, tell me about yourself. What's your training?"

"Training?" Sister asked puzzled.

"Yeah, what you've been told so far."

"Oh right. That's the base, and you're the leader, and I shouldn't kill you... ever. Did I pass?"

"No, I mean, like what kind of military training do you have. Weapons?"

"Uh, those sound violent."

"Operations?"

"I don't even know how that works."

"Communications?"

"Say what?"

"Intelligence?"

"Uhhh, huh?"

Church let out a groan, "Great..."

"Yeah, sorry," Sister muttered, "Doesn't sound like I have any of the skills you need... unless you wanna see my ping pong ball trick."

"Yeah," Church sighed then his face fell. "Wait, what?"

Utterly confused, Church now decided to introduce Sister to the rest of the team. He started with Tucker who he found by the canyon wall tossing a small rock over to his little alien baby.

"And this, is Tucker," Church said to Sister as they arrived.

"Sup," Tucker called, giving her a two-fingered salute.

"Hey," Sister muttered shyly.

"Tucker's job is to do... what, I guess nothing," Church continued.

"I'm just chillin'," Tucker said, "That's the only rule on Blue Team, rookie: Be cool."

"I thought the only rule was 'don't kill the leader'," Sister stated.

"Yeah, but we break that rule all the time," Tucker replied with a shrug, "That's what makes us so cool."

"Awesome," Sister cheered, "On the Red Team, we make that rule-"

"Blarg, blarg, blarg," the little alien squeaked as he approached Tucker, arms outstretched.

"Oh cool," Sister cried, "You have a dog?"

"Uh, that's not a dog, that's my kid, Junior," Tucker scowled, kneeling down to pick up his child.

"Oh, cool," Sister breathed, "You have a kid that looks like a dog."

"Nice save," Church chuckled.

Then he spotted Rhode and Caboose coming out of the Base, the latter yawning and stretching, "Hey, you know what? I think I have the perfect tour guide for you."

He ran towards the Base, calling, "Hey Caboose, come here!"

"I thought about having a kid once," Sister told Tucker.

"Oh really?" Tucker asked intrigued, rubbing his fingers over Junior's head, "It's a lot of work."

"Yeah, it seems like it would be hard," Sister agreed, "But I thought, you know, who wants to be known as the girl who's had seven abortions?"

"Yeah," Tucker chuckled then his face fell, "Wait, what?"

Just then, Church returned with his dim blue teammate in tow.

"Alright, this is Caboose," he told Sister, "He can tell you everything you'd possibly need to know about Blue Base."

Caboose looked nervous, "Is she a mean girl, or a regular girl?"

"Caboose, what did I tell you?" Church scolded.

"That there are no regular girls," Caboose recited from memory.

"So true..." Rhode mumbled, thinking of a all the girls he's met.

"Exactly," Church replied then he turned to Sister, "Alright, so just stick with him, ask him any questions you have, and just don't bother me, or Tucker."

"What do I tell her?" Caboose asked.

"Well, I already know the rule," Sister replied.

"I hate that stupid rule," Caboose scowled.

"Go show her Doc and Sheila," Tucker suggested.

Caboose nodded then he turned and pointed to the hill where the tank and the medic were hanging out, "The purple one is Doc, and the big one is Sheila."

Church's shoulders sagged in dismay, "You know, I was really wishing that would take longer, and further away."

Sister then glanced up at something over his shoulders, "Who's the black one?"

"The black one?" Rhode asked.

"Yeah, the one in the black armor?" Sister replied, pointing behind him, "The one standing right behind you guys?"

"The black one, yeah," Caboose muttered then five seconds later, his face fell, "Wait, what?"

 **XXX**

 **And now Tex is back! How will Rhode react? Till next time guys!**


	13. Chapter 12: The Nesting Theory

**Chapter 12: The Nesting Theory**

"RETREAT!" Church screamed.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Tucker yelled as they ran for their lives.

"Oh crap oh crap oh crap, running running running!" Caboose yelped as bullets flew all around them.

"Who is that?" Sister cried as they fled for the Base.

"That's Tex," Tucker replied in panic, clutching Junior close to him.

"Wait," Rhode exclaimed, "WHAT?!"

"Whoa, he's awesome," Sister giggled. "He's kinda hot."

"OW!" Caboose yelped as a bullet hit him right in the leg.

"Tex isn't a guy, she's a girl," Tucker corrected as they ducked into the Base and hid behind the doors.

"Oh, sorry," Sister replied. "She's awesome. She's kinda hot."

"She's actually Church's ex-girlfriend," Tucker added.

"WHAT?!?!" Rhode yelled.

"Oh yeah?" Sister asked, looking at her leader, "Why aren't you guys dating anymore?"

Church stared at her in shock, "Are you seriously asking that question right now?"

Caboose winced and flexed his wounded leg, "Last time I was shot, I got a Purple Heart. Yeah, I hope this time I get a Purple Lung. You see, eventually I hope to build an entire purple person, and we will be best friends."

"Maybe you should ask for a Purple Brain," Tucker teased.

"You're just jealous 'cause you have no friends," Caboose retorted with a scowl.

Tucker gasped as he felt the bullets riddling on the door that he, Junior and Caboose were hiding behind, "Why is she shooting at us?"

"How do I know?" Church cried, "And why are you acting like this is unusual?"

"Well, go out there and tell her to stop," Tucker ordered.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," Church mumbled nervously.

"Uh, aren't you like the leader or something?" Sister asked puzzled.

"Uh..." Church thought quickly, "Yes, Sister, I am the leader, which is why I am officially appointing you our Field Negotiator."

"Awesome!" Sister cheered.

"Yes, congratulations, we're very proud of you," Church replied hastily, "Your first job is to get Tex to stop firing at us."

"Cool," Sister then stood up and stepped outside, right into the line of fire.

"Hey Tex!" she yelled. "Stop shooting, you stupid jerk!"

At once, the bullets stopped coming.

"Nice negotiating," Tucker sighed as Sister went back inside.

"She's not firing," Church noted, "I think that actually worked. Maybe she's outta ammo. Let me check."

Cautiously, Church peeked around the door... and was immediately shot in the head.

"Nope, she still has ammo," his ghost sighed as his body slumped to the floor.

"Nice recon work," Tucker groaned.

"What is going on?!" Rhode yelled.

"I'm gonna go get my body back," Church decided, kneeling beside his robotic corpse.

"Yeah, good idea," Tucker agreed.

Church repossessed his body and checked himself over, "Hey, Tucker, is my body on straight?"

"Dude, I don't even know what that means," Tucker muttered.

Just then, the doors were kicked open and the Blues whirled round to see Tex standing in the doorway, battle rifle in her hands.

"Freeze!" she yelled, "Nobody move!"

'Yep,' Rhode thought, 'That's her.'

"We're already not moving," Tucker retorted, "You could have just said 'everyone keep doing what you're not doing.'"

Tex fired a shot at Tucker's feet, "Shut up!"

"Whatever," Tucker gulped nervously.

"Tex, what is your problem?" Church cried out.

"My problem is that O'Malley isn't in Doc anymore," Tex growled, "He's jumped into somebody new, and I'm not trustin' anybody, until I find out who."

"Yeah, we already know that," Church replied, "We're on top of the situation."

"You are?" Tex gasped, lowering her gun in amazement, "Then who did O'Malley jump into?"

"Oh," Church murmured sheepishly, "Yeah, I meant... I meant we were on top of the situation right up until that point."

"Typical," Tex muttered, rolling her eyes knowingly.

"Who's O'Malley?" Sister hissed at Tucker.

"Oh, it's just some computer program that wants to destroy the Universe," Tucker replied with a shrug. "He infects people around here from time to time, but eh, it's no big deal."

"Sounds scary," Sister murmured nervously.

"Naw, it's all good, baby," Tucker reassured, placing an arm over her shoulders, "I'll protect you."

"Yeah, that's what the last guy said," Sister retorted, "And now I can't stop scratching."

"Okay, never mind," Tucker gulped as he moved his arm away.

"None of us are infected, Tex," Church explained, "But I am a little worried about the tank. She's been actin' really weird lately. Can an AI implant in a- Tex?"

But Tex didn't hear him as she stared at Sister and Rhode, "Who're these two?"

"What? Oh, the yellow one is Sister. And the guy is-"

"Hey Tex," Rhode said, "It's been a while."

Tex's eyes widened, "Rhode?!"

"Wow," he said, "You remember me. Nice of you and the Director to try and kill me."

The two Freelancers stared at each other, until she said, "We all thought you were dead."

"YOU'RE A FREELANCER?!" Church yelled.

"We'll talk about this later," Tex said, turning her attention back to Sister, "Who's the girl again?"

"Who, Sister?" Church said, "Oh she's just a new recruit."

Tex's head whipped round and she glared at him, "You mean to tell me I'm only gone a few weeks, and you guys get yourselves a new girl?!"

"Oh, um..." Church gulped nervously.

"Whoa," Tucker murmured, backing slowly away, "Tread lightly, dude, tread lightly."

Caboose let out a whimper, "You know, I wasn't actually scared, until right just now."

 **XXX**

 **And Rhode has reunited with Tex. Not much else to say. Till next time guys!**


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Getting to the Bottom of Things**

A few minutes later, Tex had taken Sister aside to have a quick discussion while Church, Rhode, Tucker, and Caboose watched from the top of a hill.

"Oh man," Church sighed. "This is not gonna work out well for us."

"No kidding," Rhode said.

"So..." Tucker started, "You're a Freelancer?"

"I was," Rhode answered, "But then the Project tried to kill me. They don't know I'm alive, as far as I know."

"I guess that makes sense," Church said.

"Yeah, but what doesn't make sense is how you're still alive after Tex shot you."

"Yeah... See, Caboose here killed me a while back."

"Not my fault," Caboose said quickly.

"Shut up. It was. So I came back as a ghost, and right now, I'm possessing a robotic body."

"You know what?" Rhode said, giving up, "I'll just believe you. I've heard weirder."

"Get used to it," Tucker said.

Then Doc left Sheila and made his way over to the other guys in the hill.

"Okay, I talked to Sheila," he explained, "You guys were right, she definitely seems a little odd."

"Yup," Church agreed, "So whaddaya think?"

"I uh, think she seems like something is wrong," Doc muttered.

"That's your diagnosis?" Church cried out, "That's why we sent you down there, man, because we knew something was wrong."

"I'm a medic, what do you want from me?"

"How about fixing her?"

"Well, surprisingly my medical training didn't cover internal combustion."

"What a crappy medical school," Church groaned.

"Yeah," Tucker agreed, "Where'd you go, the University of Jamaica?"

"Oh please," Doc snorted, "I wouldn't be caught dead on that campus. I went to Jamaica State! Who's Jamaica State's Fighting Irish?"

"That's Notre Dame," Rhode pointed out.

"Well, since we're international, we don't really have to adhere to the stringent US copyright laws, so-"

"Never mind," Church interrupted, "Just go back down there and see if you can reboot Sheila."

Doc raised an eyebrow, "Reboot her?"

"Yeah dude," Tucker replied, "That's how you fix broken stuff. You turn her off, and then you turn her back on again. She'll be fine."

"I don't think that'll work," Doc murmured.

"Uh, pardon me, it works great," Church protested, "We already rebooted the toaster, we rebooted the teleporter..."

"I rebooted my ship once," Rhode put in.

"We even rebooted Caboose's armor once," Church finished, "Although that took a lot longer to come back online than we thought it would."

"It was dark and I got to hold my breath," Caboose added, "I'm pretty sure there were no side-effects."

"No," Doc interjected, "I mean I don't think it'll work because I'm not going back down there. She's not exactly in the best of moods."

As if to prove his point, Sheila fired a round which hit the hill next to the one they were standing on, "See?"

"Yeah," Church agreed nervously, "We need to get someone sneaky down there who can turn her off."

"How 'bout Tucker?" Doc suggested.

"Who, me?" Tucker cried, "No way, I'm a lover, not a sneaker."

"Oh, that's your response to everything," Doc scowled.

"What can I tell you?" Tucker replied with a shrug, "I'm a lover, not a thinker. How 'bout Tex?"

"Yeah, we couldn't afford it," Church sighed. "If only we knew someone that Sheila trusted. And it would have to be someone kinda dumb, so that we could fool them into betraying that trust, for our purposes..."

Church and Tucker swapped knowing looks then they all turned as one towards Caboose.

"Hey, everyone is looking at me," Caboose murmured then he smiled, "I love it when they do that. Hi, everybody!"

 **XXX**

After some planning about what Caboose should do, they started planning on what Tex should do.

"Well, I suppose I should figure out a way to get Tex to reboot Sheila, "Church sighed and bowed his head, "Man, I'm gonna have to call in a lot of favors for this one."

"What favors could you possibly have stored up with someone who dumped you?" Rhode asked.

"She didn't dump me, Rhode," Church retorted, "It was mutual."

"Mutual in what way; mutual in the sense that you were both single the moment she dumped you?"

"Yeah, that way," Church snapped before turning to his blue teammate, "Come on, Caboose; let's go explain the plan to Tex. Wish us luck."

"Yeah, right," Tucker muttered as he watched his teammates head towards the girls, "Hey when she kills you, I'm gonna sell your armor to the pink guy on the Red Team. I hear he's in the market."

Doc then looked over and noticed the two girls, "Hey, who's the yellow soldier?"

"That's just Sister," Rhode replied, "She's new."

"No one told me about a new arrival," Doc exclaimed, "I'm supposed to examine everyone before they assume active duty."

"Don't sweat it," Tucker said, "I already checked her out for you. Diagnosis: F-I-N-E... That spells fine."

"Thanks. But I think a trained medical professional should be the one to-"

"I'm a doctor," Tucker cut in, "A doctor of love, PhD, certified loooveology, General Harrasstitioner, Sexicologist."

Doc rolled his eyes, "First of all, love is not an officially recognized medical specialty. And also, PhDs, not really doctors!"

Tucker scowled and folded his arms, "Dude, you're a dork."

Just then, Sister arrived and smiled at her teammate, "Hey!"

"What's up, Sis?" Tucker called out, "What did you and Tex talk about?"

Sister just shrugged. "Oh she was just talking about everyone here; how you're all idiots and jerks, and you guys are her idiots and jerks, and if I try to become more popular than her, she would talk about me behind my back, and turn everyone against me, and then I would cry, and everyone would hate me... you know, girl stuff!"

"Cool," Tucker chuckled nervously, "Oh hey, speaking of girl stuff, this is Doc."

"Hi!" Sister said cheerfully.

"Uh, hello, nice to meet you," Doc replied shyly, "I'm the medic. Eh, if it's alright with you, I need to give you a quick examination since you're new. Do you want to come to Base where you might feel more comfortable taking off all your clothes?"

"Sure, lead the way," Sister replied eagerly as she followed Doc to the Base, "See ya, guys!"

Tucker watched them go then frowned, "What the crap just happened?"

Rhode started cracking up and Tucker said, "Oh shut up dude!"

 **XXX**

Rhode walked over to the others. Church quickly explained to Tex what they planned to do while Caboose kept an eye out for Sheila.

"So Caboose is gonna be up front talking to her and then while he's got her distracted, you sneak around the back, access her panel and shut her down."

Tex thought for a moment then nodded, "Okay, I'll do it."

"Wha- that's it?" Church cried out, "You will? No bargaining, no ridiculous demands?"

"No," Tex replied simply, "I'm trying to find O'Malley and his friend. In a way, you guys are helping me. If anyone should be making demands, it should be you."

"Oh, well, in that case, we wan-"

"Forget it, deal's done."

"Dang it."

"Um," Caboose then put in, "How should I distract Sheila?"

"Just talk to her," Rhode replied, "Keep her attention, that's it."

"I don't know," Caboose muttered nervously, "Uh, we kinda have a history. She may not want to talk to me."

"Oh my gosh," Rhode said, visor-palming.

"So?" Church asked with a shrug, "Tex and I have a history, it doesn't mean we can't be professional and hold a conversation."

"I wouldn't exactly call them conversations," Tex corrected silently.

"Oh, get off my back woman," Church snapped, "Can't you see I'm working here?"

"Please, you call this working?" Tex scoffed.

"See?" Caboose cut in, "This is exactly what could happen with me and Sheila, only with more getting shot by tanks."

Church sighed and rolled his eyes, "Caboose, if that happened, I'm sure the shell would just bounce off you and land on me somehow. Just smooth-talk her."

"I don't know how to do that," Caboose murmured.

"Just tell her she's pretty, or that she's got that new-tank smell or something. Compliment her treads, it doesn't matter."

"I don't know..."

"It's easy. Look, here, just practice on Tex, she's womanish."

"Pardon me?" Tex cried out.

"Do you want Caboose to run decoy for you?" Rhode reminded her, "Or do you wanna try this on your own?"

As if to drive the point home, Sheila opened fire and a boulder just behind Tex exploded into pieces.

"I see your point," Tex muttered nervously.

Church then turned to Caboose, "Go ahead."

Caboose coughed and stepped up to the Freelancer, "Um... hello, Tex."

Just then, Tucker came running up to them, "Dude, you will not believe what Doc just pulled off."

"Shut up, Tucker," Rhode hissed through clenched teeth, "Don't interrupt."

"Interrupt what?" Tucker asked puzzled.

Caboose ignored them as he continued his sweet talking, "Tex, I think you are pretty, and... you haven't hurt my body in a long time... so I was hoping that, uh, we could talk, and be friends, maybe... and hold hands and you would go with me... and when you went with me, you would be my real girlfriend."

Tex sighed at how crazy Caboose sounded, but aloud she said, "I think that would be... nice, Caboose. We should definitely do... that."

"What the crap?" Tucker jumped in at this point and pushed Caboose aside, "Tex, have you gone crazy? If you wanna get in with somebody, get with me, the love doctor! I'm a real man! I will rock your freaking world!"

Tex stared at him for a moment then she glared at Church.

"Hey, don't look at me," Church muttered, "He's not part of the plan."

Tex nodded then she punched Tucker in the face, knocking him down.

"OW!" Tucker yelled, rubbing his bruised jaw, "What is going on around here?"

"I don't think I'm going to use Tucker's 'rock your world' line," Caboose muttered, "I think I'm gonna stick to my own material."

 **XXX**

Church, Rhode, and Caboose peeked over a grassy knoll and spotted Sheila sulking by the canyon wall. Then they saw Tex hiding behind a nearby boulder.

"Okay, she's in position," Rhode hissed, "Get going, Caboose."

"I don't know what to say," Caboose muttered nervously.

"Don't be nervous," Church assured him, "Just go out there, hold her attention, and don't say anything stupid. No wait; be natural. Say stupid stuff. Go!"

With a nervous gulp, Caboose shuffled out of the grass then made his way over to the tank, "Hello, Sheila, how are you doing?"

Sheila turned her turret round and spotted the blue Spartan approaching.

"Oh, hello Caboose," she called out cheerfully, "Actually, I'm not functioning at my optimal capacity. My internal diagnostics indicate I am having mechanical issues. How are you?"

"Um," Caboose mumbled.

"Caboose, say good," Church hissed from his hiding place.

"What? Oh, good! Um, p-pretty good, really good, I am great. I am absolutely perfect."

"That's too good."

"Now I am depressed. I am doing... bad. I-I don't know if I can go on."

Sheila tilted her turret slightly, "You seem... distracted, Caboose."

"Uh, I am not distracted," Caboose replied nervously, glancing at Church and Rhode for a moment, "I'm not distracted, I am distracting. See, that's different 'cause I'm doing it to you!"

"What?" Sheila gasped.

"What?" Church whispered.

"I mean," Caboose stuttered, "I'm very... distractable, uh, with a high degree of distract-ivity... ness." He cleared his throat nervously.

"Change the subject!" Rhode called quietly.

"Okay," Caboose hissed then he smiled at the tank, "Sheila, have you seen Tex?"

"What?" Church cried then hissed, "I mean- what?"

"What?" Sheila yelled unaware of Tex sneaking up behind her.

"Sheila, do you know what my favorite thing to do is?" Caboose asked, "Not looking behind myself. You should try not doing that."

Sheila just stared silently at him as he beamed nervously, "Do you like to collect stamps?"

"Hey, Caboose," Church hissed from his and Rhode's cover, "I think it's wrong for the three of us to die because you're an idiot, so we're gonna take off now. Okay, we'll see you, bye."

"Please don't go," Caboose called as he watched Church and Rhode run for it.

"I am not leaving," Sheila said.

"Oh, good," Caboose sighed worryingly, "Good, stay."

"You are acting strangely," Sheila said suspiciously, rolling a little closer, "And I would like to find out why."

"Oh, okay," Caboose gulped, backing slowly away, "Um-"

"Caboose, the Omega AI has been missing and everyone has been attempting to find him," Sheila explained, "If you continue to act erratically, they may mistakenly think he is inside of you and take drastic measures against you."

"Oh, I wouldn't want them to do that," Caboose muttered nervously.

"Exactly," Sheila replied, "Luckily, I know where Omega is."

"You do?" Caboose cried out, "Where?"

"He is inside Bluuuuuuooooorrr..." And then Sheila's turret drooped down and the lights in her cabin switched off.

"Got it!" Tex cheered, stepping out from behind the tank.

Caboose frowned, "Who is Bluurrrr?"

 **XXX**

 **I can't believe I combined multiple episodes for this one... Till next time guys!**


	15. Chapter 14: Where Credit is Due

**Chapter 14: Where Credit is Due**

As Tex made her made back to Rhode and Church to report the success of his plan, Caboose hurried over to them, with news that surprised them both.

"You want us to turn her back on again?" Church cried out, "After we just went through all that trouble to shut her down?"

"But she said she knows where O'Malley is," Caboose replied.

"Maybe she was lying," Rhode pondered, "How could she possibly know that? What do you think, Tex? Can you turn back on again, disable her guns or somethin'?"

"Not a chance," Tex replied, "She's a wreck back there. I'm not even sure how she was operational anyway."

"Oh, I know," Caboose shouted, "Uh, we could put her inside my head, like O'Malley! I've got lots of extra room in there."

"Yeah, I bet," Church muttered, "And no, she's not that kind of AI."

"She could only be moved over if we had a similar class of vehicle," Tex agreed.

"Yeah, if only we had some other kind of big vehicle that we could move her into. We can't use the Warthog 'cause that doesn't have anything..." Rhode stopped and glanced towards his Pelican, "Wait a minute... my ship! Tex, could we move her into one of those on-board computers?"

Tex gave it a thought, "If we set up a hard line, yeah, I bet we could do it."

"Church, Rhode, wait!"

Church and Rhode looked round to see Tucker running out of the Base towards them, "Huh?"

"Church, hold on a second," Tucker yelled as he approached, "I've got something to tell you!"

"Tucker, what is it?" Church asked.

"I just wanted to say..." Tucker paused to catch his breath, "I got a hard line Tex can use: Bow chicka bow wow."

"How did you even hear that!?" Tex cried.

"I'm like Superman," Tucker replied with a snort, "I know when I'm needed."

 **XXX**

A minute later, Tex found a long cable on board the ship, plugged one end into the main computer on its deck then she made her way outside and plugged the other end into Sheila's back panel, "She's all set. Transfer should take a while."

"Um, are we sure we wanna put her in this ship?" Rhode asked nervously.

Tex thought for a moment, "Hmm, it's still flyable, but I'm gonna remove the ignition coil just to be sure. If O'Malley is in her somewhere, they aren't goin' anywhere without it."

"You want me to hold it?" Church asked.

"Are you kidding?"

"Well, thought it was worth a try."

Tex then switched on her helmet radio, "Hey Caboose, how's it goin' in there?"

On the deck of the Pelican, Caboose received Tex's message, "Looks good, although I have to tell you, the ship looks a lot bigger on the inside than the outside."

"How's the readout?" Tex asked.

Caboose glanced at the main computer, "Well, all the red lights are red, and all the blue lights are blue."

"What about the green lights?"

Caboose looked again, "Those are black."

"Okay," Tex replied, "When the green lights turn green, and the red lights turn black, I want you to get a hold of me right away."

"Uh, okay. Uh, what about the blue lights?"

"The blue lights don't matter."

"Then why do they-"

"Okay, thanks Caboose, good job!"

"Oh, okay," Caboose muttered as the radio went dead.

 **XXX**

After everything was set, Church was getting annoyed at Tex for her actions.

"You can't just show up here and start bossing people around, Tex," he berated. "Bossing people around is my job. I put in the time."

"I had to leave," Tex argued. "I found Wyoming."

"Wyoming?!" Rhode exclaimed, "What happened?"

"I thought I tracked him back to O'Malley," Tex explained, "But by the time York and I got there-"

"York!?" Rhode cried, "Was Carolina with him?"

"No, she's-" Tex suddenly stopped when she saw Rhode's confused face, "You haven't heard, have you?"

"What?" Rhode asked.

"... Carolina's been dead for years now," Tex said with a sad frown.

"..." Was all Rhode could say.

Carolina's dead? No... That's couldn't be right. She was the best! She had saved him. She was his best friend, no, she was more to him than a best friend...

"How did it happen?" He finally asked.

"Maine killed her," Tex answered, "Carolina kept trying to beat me, and eventually resorted to getting two AI implants. Then Maine went power crazy with Carolina as one of his first targets. He pulled both AI's out and tossed her off a cliff in Sidewinder. I saw it happen myself. I would've given anything to save her, but..."

She had a feeling she shouldn't continue. Rhode was taking this pretty badly. She could already see tears on his cheeks.

"Anyway," she said to Church, "York still had Delta."

"Delta, the AI?" Church gasped, "How? I thought they took them- wait a minute, wait a minute, how was he even still alive? Aren't we hundreds of years in the future?"

"I thought it was because of his armor," Tex replied, "You know all the Freelancer suits had some kind of enhancement."

"Right, like your invisibility," Church agreed.

"And horrible meanness," Caboose added.

"No, dude, that's all natural," Church chuckled.

"York's was some kind of healing mechanism," Tex continued, "It would help him recover from wounds in battle. I thought it might have kept him alive all these years. Anyway, we managed to break into O'Malley's lair and cornered Wyoming, but York was killed in the battle. Then after I found Wyoming, I knocked him out and downloaded logs from his helmet."

Her face suddenly became serious, "There's somethin' going on, Church, with a lot of people working against us."

"Well, what did Wyoming say when he woke up?" Church asked.

"He didn't," Tex replied with a scowl, "Before I could interrogate him, he teleported away; one second he was there, and the next he was gone."

"What about the second after that?" Caboose cut in.

Tex glowered at the dim Blue, "Can I kill him?"

"No, I'm saving him in case we ever need him for food," Church replied, "So, Wyoming's armor lets him teleport?"

"I don't think so," Tex muttered, "I think someone grabbed him from somewhere else."

"How is that possible? The only technology I know that could do that is-" Church stopped as a thought crossed his mind, "Wait a minute... Each Freelancer had an enhanced suit of armor and an AI, right?"

"Right," Tex agreed.

"Right," Caboose added.

"Your armor was invisibility, and your AI was Omega."

"Right," Tex agreed again.

"Wrong," Caboose added, "Oops, missed that one. Can we go back?"

Church slapped his teammate on the back of his helmet then turned to Tex, "What was Wyoming's AI?"

"Gamma," Tex replied.

Church sighed and reached for his helmet radio, "I gotta make a phone call."

As Church went to call whoever and Caboose walked away, Tex turned to Rhode, "Look, I'm sorry. I-"

"Don't be," Rhode said, sounding dangerously on the edge of beating her to a pulp, if he was even able to, "You tried to save her but couldn't. I understand. Can we move on?"

Tex sighed, "Alright."

 **XXX**

A while later, Church waited until Tucker, Junior, Doc and Sister had arrived then he addressed his team.

"Alright, Vic called and said we should attack the Red Base right away. I don't know why but... I guess we're gonna do it."

"Attack?" Tucker cried out, "Shouldn't we call soldiers or the military for something like that?"

"And for some reason," Church continued, "he thinks it's a good idea for some of us to go through the caves."

"Why?" Tex asked suspiciously.

"I don't know but who cares?" Church replied dismissively, "So, me, Tex, Rhode, and Tucker are gonna go right up the middle."

"What about my kid?" Tucker yelled, hugging Junior close to his chest, "He can't go into battle!"

"Doc, Sister and Junior, you guys go get lost in the caves," Church said.

"Oh," Tucker sighed in relief.

"We'll find you after the battle's over," Church told Doc and Sister, "unless we die, in which case we won't find you, and you're gonna have to find us. And if that happens, I want to be buried as far away as possible from these two."

He nodded at Tucker and Tex.

"Yeah," Tucker then said, "And I wanna be stuffed and put on a couch with a cooler full o' beer, a bag full of cheese puffs, non-stop reruns of Baywatch and- ah you know what, it's all in my will."

"What about me?" Caboose asked eagerly, "Can I get lost too?"

"No, Caboose," Tex replied strictly, "I need you to stay here and watch Sheila."

"Yeah," Church agreed, "If the transfer gets interrupted, we might lose her altogether."

"Oh, that would be bad."

"Right, otherwise, how would you accidentally kill people?"

Caboose looked thoughtful, "Hmmm, well I suppose I could always-"

"Shut up, that was rhetorical," Church interrupted, "Tucker, come on, let's get going."

"Where should we go?" Doc asked.

"I don't care," Church replied, "Just be ready to come running with the cavalry if we start screaming in pain, unless Tucker starts screaming in pain, in which case, you know, feel free to point and laugh."

With a glare at his leader, Tucker knelt down and lowered Junior to the ground.

"Well, little dude," he sighed. "I guess there's a time when every little boy becomes a man."

"Tucker, he's only three days old," Doc reminded him.

"Yeah," Tucker sniffed, lifting his helmet up slightly to wipe a tear from his eye, "They grow up so fast."

"Also," Church added, "He's not a boy, he's a grub."

"The point is, you're on your own now," Tucker continued, patting his alien child on the head, "And I don't have time to tell you everything you need to know. So here's a few brief pointers: Invest in real estate, there's no such thing as a permanent record, always eat breakfast, all the girls on the Internet are actually dudes, and you should never, ever buy the extended warranty on anything, ever. Oh, also, chicks like it when you tell them you're pretty, but they also like it when you're kind of a jerk to 'em, so mix it up a little."

"Tucker, let's go!" Rhode called out as he, Church, and Tex set off towards the hill.

"Okay, little dude, I gotta go now," Tucker sighed, getting to his feet, "Tex needs me, Rhode, and Church to back her up."

"Blarg chicka honk honk!" Junior squeaked.

"Huh, I guess you have been teaching him some stuff," Doc said impressed.

"Teach?" Tucker scoffed, "You don't teach that. That's just genetic."

With that, Tucker set off to join Tex, Rhode, and Church, while Doc picked up Junior and set off with Sister towards the cliffs and Caboose hurried back to the Pelican.

Twenty minutes later, Tex, Church and Tucker were standing on a ledge overlooking the Red Base. Tex was prepping her battle rifle, Tucker had switched on his key-sword and Church now peered at the Base with his sniper rifle.

"I don't see anything."

"Me and Rhode will move up," Tex said, "You two stay here."

"You want us to cover you?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah, cover me," Tex sighed sarcastically, "That way I won't get hurt. Just don't run away."

"Hey, you don't have to be a jerk," Tucker retorted.

As Tex and Rhode set off down the cliff, Church looked through the scope of his sniper.

"I don't see anything at all," he muttered, "It's like they're all hiding or somethin'."

Tucker glanced over his shoulder, "Uh, what do you see?"

"I just said I don't see anything," Church replied crossly, "I just said that."

"Man, I hate that I never get the freaking sniper rifle!" Tucker yelled.

"Oh yeah, boo hoo," Church retorted, "All you've got is your stupid awesome sword, I feel so sorry for you."

"Come on, dude, just once," Tucker pleaded, "Let me use it, just one time, I won't ask again! Pleeeeeeeeease? Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease?"

Church thought it over for a moment, "Can I use the sword?"

"Oh, yes!" Tucker yelled.

"Fine, here," Church handed his teal teammate the sniper while Tucker switched off his sword and gave it to his leader.

"Oh, awesome!" Tucker cheered, raising the scope to his eye, "Okay, no wait, how do I zoom? Ha, I'm zoomed!"

Church meanwhile pressed the button on the handle but nothing happened, "Hey, Tucker, the sword doesn't even work. What a gyp."

"Now how do I-" Tucker then felt something under his finger, "Wait, what is this thing?"

"Okay, whatever, dude," Church sighed, "Just don't-"

Suddenly there was a loud bang and down below, Tex suddenly cried out, "OW!"

"Whoa!" Rhode cried out, "What just happened?!"

"What the crap?" Church looked round and saw that the sniper's muzzle was smoking, "Did you just fire that thing?"

"Oops!" Tucker moved his finger away from the trigger, "That was an accident."

"We're supposed to be sneaking up on them, moron," Church berated, "They're gonna hear us, gimme it back."

"Um, yeah, okay take it back," Tucker yelped, tossing the gun back quickly.

"I knew there was a reason I didn't let you use this thing all these years-" Church trailed off as he spotted Tex coming back up towards them, rubbing her wounded butt, "Hey Tex, what're you doing back?"

In reply, Tex raised her fist and punched Church right in the face.

"OW!" he yelled as he stumbled back, "What did I do!?"

"Jerk!" Tex growled.

"I told him to be careful with that thing," Tucker chuckled, "He's just not very good with it."

 **XXX**

 **Way to play the blame game Tucker... Also, I had thought about a scene where Rhode grabbed Tex's neck out of anger before breaking down. But I couldn't get anywhere with it. Till next time guys!**


	16. Chapter 15: Loading

**Chapter 15: Loading...**

After a while, Tex, Rhode, Church and Tucker had arrived at the Red Base but nobody came out to challenge them.

"Alright," Church decided, "Well, I guess let's break up into teams and search the base."

"Got it," Tex replied.

As Church, Rhode, and Tucker went inside the base, Tex made her way towards where the Warthog Mk 2 was parked.

But then, her radio switched on and Caboose called out to her, "Tex! Tex, are you there, Tex? I know who O'Malley is!"

Inside the base, Church, Rhode, and Tucker searched through each of the rooms, but aside from some empty ice-cream tubs, several scattered Oreo packets and a few unwashed thongs, there was no sign of any of the Reds.

"It looks like the Reds pulled out," Tucker muttered as he and Church made their way outside again, "Does that mean we win?"

"I s'pose so," Church replied mystified, "I guess we have... two bases... in the middle of a box canyon now."

"Whoop de freakin' do," Rhode sighed.

"Right Tex?" Church called out.

Suddenly Tex jumped out from round the corner and pointed her battle rifle at Church. "Don't move, O'Malley!"

"Oh crap," Church gulped.

"Ooh, busted!" Tucker cheered, whipping out his battle rifle, while Rhode pulled out his sniper rifle, "Kill him, Tex, I've got fifty-to-one odds if his next death is caused by anyone but Caboose."

"Tex, I am not O'Malley," Church insisted.

"Bullcrap," Tex snapped, "It all makes sense now. You were the one that told Gary where we were, you were the one that wanted me to disable Sheila by moving her to the ship, and you wanted the ignition coil once I'd removed it."

"That's all coincidental," Church cried, "It doesn't make me evil; it just makes me a bad leader."

"Why would Caboose tell me it was you?" Tex scowled.

Rhode did a double-take, "Wait. You're getting information from Caboose?"

"Thaaaat's right!" Caboose replied over the radio.

"Dude, I'll tell you what," Church growled, "If you get me killed again, I gotta tell you, this time I'm gonna be a little ticked off."

"Sheila told that O'Malley might be inside Blue Leader," Caboose explained.

"And that's you," Tex finished grimly.

"Sheila's crazy, remember?" Church recalled, "Besides, I was never officially promoted to Blue Leader anyway. That's..."

His voice trailed off as he had a horrible thought, "Oh no."

 **XXX**

At that very moment, in another part of the cave, Lopez had explained to Doc, Junior and Sister (who roughly translated) that the arrival of the Pelican had caused a tremor under him and Andy and the next thing he knew, he was deep underground and Andy was gone.

"So that's how you got here Lopez?" Doc said once he'd finished, "What a strange yet totally believable story."

Lopez then looked past them, "¿Quién es la gringo?" (Who's that guy?)

Doc, Sister and Junior whirled round to see a Spartan-II in regulation blue armor step out of the shadows followed closely by a large green alien.

"Hi there," the Spartan said in a warm-hearted and somewhat tired voice, "I don't think we've met. I'm Captain Butch Flowers, and this is my friend."

"Hi, nice to meet you!" Sister replied then a thought struck her, "Hey, wait, wasn't I sent here to replace you?"

"Honnnk?" Junior cried out, ducking behind Doc's legs.

Flowers looked down at Junior and gave a sinister smile.

"Hey there, **little guy,"** As he spoke, Doc quickly noticed that his voice was fluctuating between his normal tones and a deep scary voice. "I've been waiting a very, **very** **long time to meet you."**

 **XXX**

"I'm not O'Malley," Church insisted, "I'm telling you, it's Flowers."

"Liar," Tucker snapped, "Flowers is dead."

"Then what happened to the Reds, Tucker?" Church pointed out, "Where did they go? I certainly didn't sneak over here and scare them off in my spare time, when I wasn't dealing with you and Tex, Rhode's arrival, and that new yellow freak, and that stupid disgusting kid of yours."

"Okay, okay." Tucker sighed as he, Rhode, and Tex lowered their weapons, "Man I hope if Flowers is alive that he doesn't want his armor back. Hey, what's up with the Reds?"

"Where are they?" Tex asked.

"Who knows?" Church replied with a shrug, "Maybe it's lunch time, or maybe the Red army doesn't pay overtime and they all just went home."

"All their stuff is here," Rhode recalled, "I don't think they evacuated."

"What do you think?" Tucker asked.

Tex's face became grim, "I think we may have walked right into a-"

"A trap?" a familiar British voice finished.

Church, Tex, Rhode, and Tucker whirled round to find a Spartan-II in white armor had stepped out of the base, pointing a sniper rifle right at them.

"Wyoming!" Tex cried out.

"Okay, see?" Church cut in, "Now if I was O'Malley, I would've known that was gonna happen."

Rhode narrowed his eyes at his former colleague, "Wyoming..."

"Ah yes, hello Rhode," Wyoming beamed, "I was quite sad the day you were presumed dead. I couldn't get to kill you myself then! So sorry to sneak up on you when you were busy quarrelling about, well whatever it is exactly you people do here. I'm guessing some kind of ditch digging or something."

"Blue Team doesn't even have shovels," Tucker retorted, "It kinda sucks too because our guys are the ones who keep dying."

"And it looks like that trend is going to continue," Wyoming chuckled.

"Oh what, you're here for Tex?" Church snapped, "Because if you are... she's right there, all yours buddy. Go for it."

"Yeah, ladies first!" Tucker agreed.

"Not at all," Wyoming replied, "I'm here for your little friend. He's very important to a lot of people."

Church then coughed loudly, hiding the noises of his helmet radio as he switched it on, "Excuse me."

 **XXX**

Meanwhile on board Sheila, Caboose was feeling very proud of himself.

"Now that Church is possessed by O'Malley and is evil, do you think we'll have to kick him off the team? Then it would just be me and my sidekick Tucker. Oh, and Rhode. Oh, that's not a lot o' people on the team... Also I don't like Tucker... Oh I know, maybe we could convince one of the Reds to switch sides! Then we can give them Tucker. That would fix both problems!"

"I don't know," Sheila replied slowly, "That doesn't seem like it would work."

Just then, Caboose's radio started ringing, "Oh, Church is calling me, probably to ask me to be his new best friend or to infect me with a horrible computer virus. Excuse me for a minute Sheila, I have to take this."

"Affirmative," Sheila replied.

Caboose switched on his radio, "Yes, hello evil Church, what can I do for you?"

"So Wyoming," Church said accusingly, "You just showed up here and decided to attack us."

"Uh, my name is Caboose," the blue soldier murmured.

"And now you've caught us at gunpoint. And it looks like we're in big trouble."

"Uh, that doesn't sound like something I would do. I think you have the wrong number."

"Here at Red Base, Wyoming. You found us and are holding us prisoner, at the Red Base, Wyoming."

"Ah, Red Base, no I'm on the ship, the shiiiip, "Caboose turned to the main computer of the Pelican, "Sheila, I think O'Malley has driven him crazy, he's talking nonsense."

"If only someone nearby, someone with access to a tank somehow knew what was going on and could help us," Church said pointedly, "Someone for instance in blue armor who somehow knew about the situation, and figured out what the crap other people were talking about, and tried to freaking help us, and then we could be saved."

"Yeah, he's definitely crazy," Caboose decided.

Then he heard a loud rumbling noise and he looked out the window to see the tank rolling across the canyon, "Hey, Sheila, where's the tank part of you going?"

 **XXX**

Back at Red Base, Wyoming had confiscated the Blues' weapons and was now herding them onto the roof, but he was getting annoyed at Church, "Why do you keep explaining things to me? I understand the situation perfectly. I ambushed you, you're quivering with fear."

"Yeah," Rhode agreed, "What are you, the narrator now or something?"

Church just shrugged, "I just want everyone to be on the same page about Wyoming ambushing us at the Red Base."

"We know," Tucker sighed.

"Wyoming... the bad guy."

"We know!"

"And we're at the Red Base, which isn't the Blue Base, or the caves, or the cliffs, or that weird tree, or the windmill."

"We get it dude, we're standing right here."

"Maybe we should take this from the top. Do you wanna write this down?"

"NO!"

"I think your friend here has lost his marbles," Wyoming muttered.

"For once," Rhode said, "You and I agree."

"Oh, you wanna see crazy?" Tucker scowled, "Wait until you try to take my freaking kid! What do you want with him anyway? He never did anything to you."

"It's not what he did," Wyoming smirked, "It's what he's going to do. That child is very special."

"Yeah, I know," Tucker sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "I guess I should have read to him more or something."

"Not that kind of special, you half-wit," Wyoming snapped, "I mean he's important."

"Red Base!" Church yelled, "No one is in the State of Wyoming!"

"That little alien of yours has a very important destiny to fulfill," Wyoming continued, ignoring Church, and tying ropes on their arms, "and we're going to make sure he does it."

"Well, he's not here," Tucker retorted, wincing as he felt the rope tighten, "So guess what, you're crap outta luck."

"I'm well aware," Wyoming snickered, "My partner's taking care of that little acquisition right now. I'm just here to 'tidy up' a bit."

"How'd you sneak up on us anyway?" Rhode demanded as Wyoming finished the knot on his bonds, "Tex, I thought you were supposed to be good at this stealth stuff."

"I am," Tex replied and as Wyoming approached her with the third rope, she pressed a button on her left wrist and vanished into thin air.

"Wow, that's awesome," Tucker breathed, "Good for you."

"Oh no, Tex has gone invisible," Wyoming declared in feign alarm, "Whatever shall I do? Fretting, worry."

"Dude, I wouldn't sound so smug," Church warned, "She kicked your butt last time and you weren't outnumbered like you are now."

Just then there was a loud rumbling and Church and Tucker turned to see the tank rolling up towards the base.

"Haha, yeah, it worked!" Church cheered, "I can't believe Caboose came through! How do ya like that, Wyoming? We even have our tank now. Booya!"

But Wyoming just let out a chortle, "Your tank? Hohohohooo..."

As he laughed, the tank raised its turret, pointed it at the two Blues and former Freelancer and spoke in a very familiar electronic voice, "KNOCK KNOCK, CHURCH."

"Oh, crap..." Church groaned.

 **XXX**

 **And next time, we get the time distortion antics. Till next time guys!**


	17. Chapter 16: Same Old, Same Old

**Chapter 16: Same Old, Same Old**

"You know, I really can't thank you enough for leaving your tank completely unattended," Wyoming chuckled, "It was very kind of you old chap. Makes your defeat and humiliation so much easier."

"Yeah? Well great," Church scowled, "Glad we could help. I'm sure if you give us enough time, we'll just kill ourselves and save ya some ammo."

Wyoming grinned malevolently, "If it makes you feel any better, your death is for a very noble cause."

"What do you want with Tucker's kid anyway?" Rhode demanded.

Just then, Tucker gasped and looked around in puzzlement, "What? How did we get here?"

Church turned to look at his teal teammate, "Tucker?"

"What!?" Tucker yelled.

"What's wrong with you?"

"With me? What's happening?"

"Um, we're being held prisoner," Rhode replied, staring at his teammate like he'd lost his marbles, "Where the heck have you been?"

"What?" Tucker gasped, "How? I'm so confused."

"What do you mean how?" Church shouted, "Are you retarded?"

"But Tex! She-"

"No, Tex will take him out."

"Oh right, Tex," Wyoming chuckled, "You mean her?"

And with that, he raised his fist and punched out to his left and with a cry, Tex reappeared and slumped to the ground unconscious.

"Poor Tex. Never could figure out when she's been beaten."

Rhode gasped in alarm, "What? How did you know where she was?"

"What do you mean?" Tucker cried, "That's where she was before."

"Before what?" Church yelled, "Tucker, have you gone insane?"

"Wait a minute," Wyoming breathed, "What's going on?"

"I THINK HE KNOWS," Gary hissed.

"I think you're right," Wyoming whispered back.

Just then, Caboose came charging over the hill next to the base.

"Church, I'm coming to help! Don't start without me!"

"It's the idiot," Wyoming sneered as he looked round, "Take care of him, quickly."

"RIGHT," Gary turned his turret towards the Blue as a machine gun slotted out from under the cannon.

"Caboose, no, stay back!" Tucker yelled out, "Don't get near the tank!"

But it was too late. Gary opened fire with the machine gun and Caboose cried out in pain as the bullets ripped through his body before collapsing to the ground.

"CABOOSE! NOOOO!" Church screamed.

Gary turned his turret towards the remaining Blues and Rhode. Quickly, Tucker jumped forward and snatched up Church's sniper rifle.

"Go, move!"

He, Rhode, and Church leapt off the roof and set off into the canyon.

"Look out!" Tucker then shouted as they ran towards Caboose's body, narrowly dodging Gary's next blast.

"Caboose, Caboose!" Rhode knelt down by his teammate and shook him, but got no response, "Ah, crap, he's not moving!"

"I'm telling you, he's dead just like last time," Tucker persisted.

Church got to his feet and rounded on his teal teammate, "Tucker, you are gonna start making sense, right now. That's an order."

"This already happened," Tucker explained, "Wyoming shot Caboose; Tex jumped Wyoming and knocked his gun away and then-"

"Tex is unconscious!" Rhode yelled.

"Freaking A, I know," Tucker cried, "That's what I'm saying!"

Church undid the bonds on his wrists and snatched his sniper from Tucker's hands then he took aim at Wyoming and fired. Incredibly the round stayed straight and hit the bounty hunter right in the gut. With a cry of pain, Wyoming fell off the roof and hit the ground.

"Oh, I hit him, I hit him!" Church cried out incredulously, "I can't believe I- I mean, I knew this sniper was awesome."

"Why do you think it's my main weapon?" Rhode smirked.

"This is just like last time!" Tucker gasped. "Once Wyoming lost, everything seemed to-"

 **XXX**

Next thing he knew, Tucker found that he, Rhode, and Church were back on the roof of Red Base, tied up once more, and Wyoming was still standing.

"Reset," he finished.

"You know, I really can't thank you enough for leaving your tank completely unattended," Wyoming chuckled, "It was very kind of you old chap. Makes your defeat and humiliation so much easier."

"Yeah? Well great," Church scowled, "Glad we could help. I'm sure if you give us enough time, we'll just kill ourselves and save ya some ammo."

Wyoming grinned malevolently, "If it makes you feel better, your death is for a very noble cause."

"What do you want with Tucker's kid anyway?" Rhode demanded.

"What is going on?" Tucker yelled.

"Um, we're being held prisoner," Rhode replied, staring at his teammate like he'd lost his marbles, "Where the heck have you been?"

Tucker stared at his leader incredulously, "Church, don't you remember any of this?"

"Tucker, what the crap are you talkin' about?" Church shouted.

"HE KNOWS," Gary hissed.

Wyoming nodded in agreement, "How the devil is he keeping up with us?"

"IRRELEVENT," Gary replied, "ELIMINATE HIM."

He raised his turret towards them, but Tucker ducked seconds before the cannon went off.

"Go, move!"

At once, he, Rhode, and Church jumped off the roof and dashed off into the canyon, "Tex, look out! He knows where you are!"

"What?" Tex shouted, appearing by the edge of the ramp.

Just then, Caboose sprinted over the hill next to the base, "Church, I'm coming to help! Don't start without me!"

"Oh crap, I forgot about Caboose!" Tucker cried.

Immediately, Wyoming raised his sniper and fired a shot right through Caboose's head.

"Aggh, I am dead!" the Blue yelled as he slumped to the ground.

"CABOOSE! NOOOO!" Church screamed.

Tucker let out a groan, "Aw crap."

"Whaddaya mean aw crap?" Rhode shouted, struggling to untie his bonds, "Caboose just got killed."

"Yeah I know, but I'm pretty sure it's okay. Somehow Wyoming keeps looping us through the same events over and over again, and no one but me seems to remember, "Tucker looked back at the Base in time to see Tex take out Wyoming, "I don't know how, but every time he gets hurt, things just start-"

 **XXX**

Suddenly they were back on the roof of Red Base, tied up again and Wyoming gloating over them but this time Tucker knew what he had to do to stop the bounty hunter once and for all.

"You know, I really can't thank you enough for leaving your tank completely unattended," Wyoming chuckled, "It was very kind of you old chap. Makes your defeat and humiliation so much easier."

"Yeah? Well great," Church scowled, "Glad we could help. I'm sure if you give us enough time, we'll just kill ourselves and save ya some ammo."

"Yeah, what do you want with my kid anyway?" Tucker snapped.

Wyoming stared at him in amazement, "You don't remember?"

"Remember?" Tucker cried in mock confusion while he secretly worked on his bonds, "You never told me anything."

"I THINK IT WORKED THAT TIME," Gary hissed.

"Apparently," Wyoming agreed, "Keep your eye on him next time."

"The crap are you guys talking about?" Church yelled then he shook his head, "Oh you know what, never mind. Keep talking and waste time until Tex kills you."

"Oh right, Tex," Wyoming chuckled, "You mean her?"

And with that, he raised his fist and punched out to his left and with a cry, Tex reappeared and slumped to the ground unconscious. But while he was distracted, Tucker threw off his rope, snatched up his sword and ducked behind the bounty hunter.

"Oh poor Tex," Wyoming chortled, turning back to face Church and Rhode, "Never could understand when she was-"

"Beaten!?" Tucker pressed the button on his sword so that the glowing blades, as they switched on, stabbed right through the bounty hunter's chest.

Church and Rhode stared incredulously and Wyoming's jaw dropped.

"Oh dear!" was all he said before he gave a final gasp and fell down dead.

"REGGIE!" Gary gasped.

"That's right," Tucker sneered, flicking his sword off and kicking Wyoming off the roof, "I take care of my kid."

Just then, Caboose came running over the hill next to the base, "Church, I'm coming to help! Don't start without me!"

"Caboose, get the heck outta here!" Tucker grabbed Wyoming's sniper and fired at his teammate's feet.

"Okay, bye," Caboose yelped, darting back over the hill, "I don't wanna help anymore."

Tucker, Rhode, and Church dived off the roof to avoid the infuriated Gary's wrath.

"Tucker, how did you know that was gonna happen?" Church asked.

"Because of Wyoming," Tucker explained while he untied Church's bonds, "You know how Tex said every Freelancer had an AI and a special ability?"

"Yeah," Church replied, rubbing his wrists.

"I think Wyoming can loop us through little segments of time," Tucker replied, "And he keeps doing it over and over again until he wins."

Rhode snapped his fingers, "Of course! I remember. He had a time distortion unit! With that, as long as he's alive, he could change the entire course of a battle."

Church then let out a gasp, "Wait, what? How many times did we loop?"

"Who knows?" Tucker replied with a shrug, "But it doesn't matter now. That moron's dead."

"No, no, it does matter," Church yelled, leading Tucker towards the base's entrance, "Don't you remember when we came here to begin with? I got stuck in a loop, and every time I went back, I left a bunch of-"

Church stopped speaking as they ran into the base... and found themselves face to face with twenty Wyomings!

"Copies," he finished.

"Hello," the Wyomings all said before bursting into simultaneous laughter.

"Wasn't one already bad enough?" Rhode complained.

 **XXX**

 **Next up, Attack of the Wyomings! Till next time guys!**


	18. Chapter 17: Repent! The End is Near!

**Chapter 17: Repent! The End is Near!**

Church, Rhode, and Tucker fled for their lives as the Wyomings opened fire on them.

"They're getting away!" one Wyoming yelled.

"Cut them off!" another one ordered.

"Come on!" Tucker shouted.

"Why aren't you affected by any of this?" Rhode panted.

"Get off the ledge you fool!" a Wyoming yelled.

"He said it had something to do with the sword," Tucker explained, raising his sniper and shooting a fourth Wyoming in the head, knocking it off the base's ledge.

"I told you to watch for the sniper shot," the third Wyoming sighed.

"Who said?" Church asked. "When?"

"Just trust me!" Tucker spun round and shot the first Wyoming off the roof of the Red Base, "The cliff! Head for the cliff; that's where Tex will be!"

"Are you sure?" Church shouted as he ran past him.

"No, not that way!" Tucker called.

Church looked up and spotted another Wyoming pointing his assault rifle at him, "Now I've got you!"

Church quickly ducked his head, allowing Tucker to shoot the double right in the face.

"Hey, you know what?" Church chuckled, jumping to his feet and running in a different direction, "I kinda like this new all-knowing awesome Tucker. He's certainly a lot better than the old one."

"No, Church, wait! The other way!" Tucker shouted.

Church ran between some rocks... and found himself staring down the barrel of Gary's cannon! "KNOCK KNOCK, CHURCH."

"Holy crap!" Church dived aside just before Gary opened fire.

"I meant the other, other way," Tucker called sheepishly as he rejoined his leader, "My bad, dude."

"I take back what I said," Church snapped, "You still suck."

Tucker then spotted Tex appearing behind a large boulder and he, Rhode, and Church ran over to her.

"Okay, Tex, perfect," he sighed. "Now listen-"

"What the heck?" Tex interrupted crossly, "Why do you guys keep giving away my position?"

"It doesn't matter, they know you're here anyway," Tucker glanced over his shoulder and gasped, "DUCK!"

Quickly Church, Rhode, and Tex dropped down and then a sniper bullet whizzed through the spot where their heads used to be.

"Whoops, I hit a rock," the third Wyoming said.

"See?" Tucker said.

"What's going on?" She demanded.

"Tex, this is almost gonna be impossible to explain," Rhode told her, "But he knows exactly what's going on, and we just need to trust him."

"Trust him?" Tex cried. "Ten minutes ago, he shot me."

"Yeah, well that's I mean," Church stammered, "You know, come on, it's kind of a jerk. But don't worry; I'm sure he has an awesome plan, right Tucker?"

"Right," Tucker agreed, "Now you guys stay here and distract the Wyomings, I'ma go take care of that freakin' tank."

"Distract? How?" Rhode asked.

"Not getting killed is a great way to start!" Tucker called, running towards a hill, "Watch your back!"

Just then, gunshots started hitting the dirt near Church's feet, "Jesus!"

 **XXX**

By the hill, Tucker spotted his blue teammate and ran over to him, "Caboose, are you ready to help? I need you to do something."

"Great!" Caboose replied eagerly.

"I need you to run out there and get the tank to shoot at you and try to draw it closer to the ship. It's gonna be really dangerous a-"

"Okay!" Caboose cried.

"Caboose, that's why I always liked you," Tucker laughed, "Everything falls into two categories: either you don't understand it, or you just don't care."

"Yeah, I don't really know what you mean by that. But I guess it doesn't matter."

"Exactly."

"Why didn't you have Tex, Rhode, or Church help?" Caboose then gasped, "Is it because I'm the best?"

"No, it's because Church is a jerk, I need Rhode to take care of the the Wyomings, and Tex doesn't trust me right now."

"Really? How come?"

"Eh, because I got to use a sniper rifle and I ended up unloading a round into her butt."

Caboose giggled at this, "Hey chicka bum bum."

"Caboose, what did I tell you about that?" Tucker snapped.

"Sorry, sorry."

Carefully Caboose stepped out from behind the hill and spotted Gary nearby.

"Hey, big, mean, tank jerk!" he yelled, "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

At this, Gary turned round and started rolling towards the Blue.

"Ha, that's more like it..." Caboose murmured, "Uh oh."

He started backing away from the tank and glanced over his shoulder to where Sheila was.

"Okay, uh, Tucker, uh here it comes," he called nervously, "Tucker? Uh, Tucker?"

He then hit a boulder and gulped as Gary drew closer.

"Um yeah, I-I didn't really mean anything. I-I just wanted to say, um... Hi?"

As Gary raised his turret towards him, Tucker came running up from behind, carrying one end of a long thick cable in his hand.

Kneeling down behind the tank, he lifted the back panel cover and plugged the cable in, "Now, Sheila!"

"Affirmative," Sheila called back.

Tucker jumped as the panel started sparking and Gary turned his turret towards him.

"WHAT NOOOOOOuuuuuuu..." The turret drooped down and the tank was silent.

Tucker switched on his radio, "Did you get him, Sheila?"

"I have him!" Sheila reported, "He's currently isolated behind a firewall. He is attempting to get through, but it will take some time. He is not that smart."

"I HEARD THAT," Gary's voice yelled.

"Great," Tucker cried, running back towards the Red Base, "Caboose, stay here, I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay, but I still don't know what's happening," Caboose then looked at the motionless tank and cautiously raised a hand to it, "Good tank? Nice tank?"

 **XXX**

In the canyon, Tex, Rhode, and Church stood back to back, pointing their guns at the approaching Wyomings.

"Man," Rhode said, "It feels good to kill Wyoming multiple times, but this is too much."

"Okay," Church said, "Tex, I'll take the ones on the right; you take the ones on the left."

"There's twice as many on the left," Tex pointed out.

"I know, I can count," Church murmured.

"Just keep backing them up!" Tucker yelled from the hill.

"Why?" Rhode yelled as loud ranchero music started to build up, "What are we waiting- Wait a sec, the heck is that music?"

In response, Tucker glanced over his shoulder and then jumped aside... as seconds later, the Warthog Mk 2 came barreling over the hill, bowling over most of the Wyomings as it veered left. A pure red suiting soldier then stood up in the passenger seat, raised his trusty shotgun and shot another Wyoming in the face.

"YEAH!" he cheered in a deep Southern accent, "Now that's what I call ridin' shotgun! Blammo, hahaha!"

"Excellent shot, and follow-up one-liner, Sarge!" a maroon soldier called from behind the turret.

"Thank you Simmons," Sarge called, shooting another Wyoming that was trying to get onto the orange driver's side, "Now get to blastin'!"

"On it Sir!" Simmons opened fire with the machine gun, mowing down the Wyomings like ducks at a carnival shooting gallery, "Yeah, suck it Blue, and you too, White! Suck it, crackers!"

"Crackers?" Orange cried from the driver's seat, "I thought you were Dutch-Irish?"

"Forget that! Shut up and drive, Grif," Simmons yelled as he fired.

'That must be Sister's brother,' Rhode thought.

With a nod, Grif drove forward and ran over three Wyomings in quick succession while Simmons shot three others.

"Yeah, you like that? Plenty more where that came from, ya honky morons!"

The rest of the Wyomings tried to flee over the hill but then a pink soldier zoomed into view on his flying motorcycle and drove over them, cheering and whooping as he went.

As Simmons took out the last few stragglers, Caboose came charging over the hill.

"Hey Reds! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

The Reds looked round and Grif drove the Warthog towards the Blue as he turned and fled.

From behind the boulder, Rhode looked out and stared at Tucker, "Uh, is he gonna be okay?"

"I am Caboose, the vehicle destroyer!" they heard their teammate shout.

"Yeah, probably," Tucker replied with a shrug.

Church stared out at the carnage on the field then he spotted movement amongst the bodies, "Hey, one of them's still alive."

Lying on his front in a pool of his own blood, the last, mortally wounded Wyoming stretched out a hand to grab a nearby rifle, but Tucker ran up and snatched it away. Then Rhode rolled Wyoming onto his back, trod on his chest and pointed his sniper rifle right at his face.

"What's your plan, Wyoming?" he demanded, "Why are you here, and what do you want with Junior?"

"He already told me!" Tucker explained, "My kid is the last part of the big prophecy we thought failed. He's supposed to become some big religious savior for their whole race, or some crap."

"What?" Tex gasped.

"Yeah," Tucker replied with a nod, "So they wanna make Junior fulfill the prophecy and have O'Malley infect him. Then they can use him to enslave all the aliens by corrupting their religion from the inside."

"Okay, that's disgusting," Rhode grimaced.

"No," Wyoming groaned, "That's our job... to win the war... at any cost..."

"Yeah, well good luck," Church snapped, "Now that we have you, all we need to do is stop O'Malley. And Tex will be more than happy to do that."

"Oh, on the contrary... my friend," Wyoming half-coughed, half-chuckled, "Now that... she knows our plan... not only will she... not stop us; our dear Tex... is going to help us."

"Oh yeah," Church scoffed, "I'm sure she'd be happy to help O'Malley, isn't that right Tex?"

But when no reply came, he turned to face her, "Tex?"

"He's right," Tex sighed then she switched on her radio, "This is Freelancer Tex, broadcasting on an open channel."

Rhode gasped in horror, "Tex! What are you doing?!"

"You want me O'Malley?" Tex yelled through her radio, "Come and get me!"

 **XXX**

 **Aaaaaaand, next up is the finale. For this part anyway. I'm going to end this fanfic on the Season 5 finale. After that will be Reconstruction. Then I'll start my new Power Rangers fanfic. Till next time guys!**


	19. Chapter 18: Why Were We Here?

**Chapter 18: Why Were We Here?**

In another part of the canyon, Caboose ducked behind a tree and listened as the Reds drove past on the Warthog, calling out to him.

"Hey Caboose!" Simmons called, "Come out so we can shoot you, you moron!"

"Caboose!" Grif shouted, pulling the jeep to a stop, "Where did he go?"

"I don't see 'im," Sarge muttered, "Caboose!"

"Come out, Caboose," Simmons yelled again, "All we wanna do is shoot you!"

"Don't listen to them, it's a trick," Caboose hissed to himself.

Just then the Warthog's radio switched on and Tex's voice called out, "This is Freelancer Tex broadcasting on an open channel."

Then Church's voice called out, "This is Private Church broadcasting on an open channel."

"Why are the Blues on the radio?" Grif asked.

"Who knows?" Simmons jumped out of the jeep and switched on his helmet radio, "Hey Blues, shut up! Get off our radios and quit running our batteries down!"

Then suddenly he flinched as he felt a strange presence in his mind then he heard himself say in an evil voice, **"Do it now, or I will kill every last one of you, and then everyone else here as well just to prove a point! Muahahahahahaaa!"**

"Whoa, Simmons, hey," Grif cried out, "Don't you think that was a little over the top?"

 **"Suck it you fool!"** Simmons yelled, turning to glare at his teammate.

"And what's wrong with your voice?" Sarge asked.

 **"Nothing!"** Simmons sneered, **"Why does something have to be wrong with my voice? Maybe something's wrong with your voice. Ever think about that, _moron?"_**

"Um, you do know that's Sarge you're talking to, right?" Grif reminded him.

"I mean, moron, sir!" Simmons corrected in his normal voice before laughing evilly.

 **XXX**

Meanwhile by the Red Base, Rhode executed the last Wyoming while Church kept calling over his radio, "This is Private Church broadcasting on an open channel."

"What are you doing?" Tex yelled.

"I'm making you harder to find," Church retorted, "Tucker, Rhode, turn on your radios!"

"Screw that!" Tucker yelled, "If O'Malley gets me, he'll get the sword."

"And if he gets me," Rhode answered, "He could kill all of you!"

"Attention all Blues!" Church called in his radio, "Turn on your radio and start broadcasting right now!"

"Okay, I'm on the radio too now," Caboose replied, "This is fun. What do you want to talk about?"

Church laughed and turned to his ex, "Well, he can't find you now, Tex."

"Don't get involved, Church," Tex warned, "Omega wants me, he can have me."

"Why?" Church yelled, "So you can kidnap Tucker's kid and enslave an entire race?"

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Tucker agreed.

"We have to win the war, Church," Tex said.

"Well, what about after?" Church snapped, "You think Omega's just gonna stop after he gets a whole species for an army? He's gonna take over everything Tex, and you're not gonna be able to stop him!"

"I guess we'll find out," Tex replied with a shrug.

Just then Doc's voice called out through the radio, "Hey uh, Church? It's Doc. Yeah uh, you remember that Blue Leader guy down here? Well, he just keeled over. So I think O'Malley's on his way, just FYI."

"Tex, shut off your radio," Church ordered.

Tex just raised her fist at him, "I would get away from me if I were you."

Church got back on the radio, "Doc, you've any idea where he went?"

"I have no idea," Doc admitted, "And those alien buddies of his took off with Junior too. If you want, I could look for them on this computer down here."

"Computer, what?" Church yelled.

In the underground monitor room, Doc nodded as he glanced at the screens, "Yeah, it's showing us the whole canyon. What's with all the dead white guys?"

"What computer?" Church repeated, "Well, whatever... Listen, just keep looking for him, and tell me if you find him."

 **XXX**

"Okay," Doc replied, switching off his radio.

Sister meanwhile was sitting next to Flowers' body, "Hey, uh shouldn't you try to help this guy?"

"What?" Doc asked.

"Aren't you like the Medic or something?" Sister reminded him.

"Yeah okay, whatever," Doc sighed, "Shut up, you talk too much."

As he knelt by the body and got to work, Sister looked up at the monitors, "Hey, you think I could use this thing to check MySpace?"

 **XXX**

On the surface, Tex, Church, Rhode, and Tucker raised their weapons and pointed them at each other in a Mexican standoff.

"Tex, is he in there?" Rhode asked suspiciously.

"No," Tex replied. "Is he in you?"

"Bullcrap, I think you're lying," Church snapped, "I think that-"

Suddenly they heard Simmons calling through their radio in an evil voice, **"Nothing! Why does something have to be wrong with my voice? Maybe something's wrong with your voice. Ever think about that, _moron?"_**

Immediately, Tex pushed past Church and set off to where the Reds were.

"Crap!" Church yelled, "Guys, stop her!"

Tucker pulled a frag grenade off his belt and flung it at Tex, but it missed her and hit the canyon wall, causing a small avalanche when it exploded. Rhode jumped in front of her, but she punched him in the face and he went sprawling.

 **XXX**

Meanwhile, the guy in pink armor, Donut, rejoined his team as Sarge and Grif were berating Simmons, unaware that Omega was currently residing in his body.

"Hey, who are you calling a buffoon?" Grif shouted, "I'm not a buffoon. I don't even know what a buffoon is!"

"Both o' ya shut up," Sarge scolded.

"Seriously what is that, some kinda monkey?" Grif asked, "It's a monkey, isn't it?"

 **"You fool!"** Omega snapped.

Just then, Church came running up to them, "Hey Reds!"

At once the Reds raised their weapons at him.

"Freeze, you dirty Blue!" Sarge bellowed.

"No, no, no, no, no," Church called out, "Hey, I'm here to help. Omega's on the loose and I think he's infected one of your guys."

"Infected?" Sarge gasped, "Initiate Emergency Plan Delta, men!"

With that, he whirled round and hit Grif right in the stomach with the butt of his shotgun

"Ow!" Grif yelled in pain, stumbling to the ground, "What the crap!?"

"I didn't say who," Church shouted, "I think it's actually Simmons."

"That's okay," Donut replied, dismounting from the scooter, "That's how all our emergency plans begin."

As he spoke, Sarge smacked its butt into Grif's stomach again for good measure.

In the distraction, Omega leapt behind the Warthog's turret and pointed it at the Reds.

"Simmons, get off that gun right now!" Sarge commanded.

 **"No!"** Omega shouted.

Sarge gasped, "What did you say to me?"

 **"I said no! Hahahaha! How do you like that? NO!"**

"Well, since you asked, I don't like it at all!"

 **"First, I'm going to kill you. And then my plan to be Leader of the Reds will be complete! After that, I'm going to kill every being in the Universe! From now on, everyone will kiss _my_ butt! Hahahahahaa!"**

"Uh, yeah, it's definitely Simmons that got infected," Church decided.

"Well, no crap," Sarge retorted as Grif staggered to his feet, "Donut, initiate Emergency Plan Traitor Simmons Number Eleven!"

"On it, Sir!" Donut then raised his machine gun and fired into Grif's leg.

"Ow-how-how-how!" Grif yelped before collapsing to the ground again, gagging in agony.

"Donut, I said plan eleven!" Sarge yelled.

"Where am I gonna get a steamroller?" Donut asked.

"Simmons, do not fire that weapon," Sarge shouted as Rhode walked up, "That's an order!"

 **"Too late, Sarge!"** Omega jeered, **"Simmons is getting a promotion. Muahahahaha-"**

But then Tex leapt out from behind a rock and kicked the infected Red right in the legs.

 **"Ow, the back of my lower legs!"** Omega yelped, falling off the machine gun then Tex started pounding on him, **"Ow, the side of my head! The back of my face! The front of my front!"**

Just then Tucker came running up, "Hey Church, I think Tex is over here!"

"Thanks for the update!" Church sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Tex, I know now might not be the best time," Sarge said, "But I'd really like you to consider coming over to the Red Team. Technically, you know, black is just a really dark shade of red. We'll talk later."

At that moment, Caboose ran out from behind the tree, "Church, are we still talking on the radio?"

Suddenly he flinched and then called out in an evil voice, **"Muahahahaha! 'Cause I'd love to talk on the radio... What? What am I doing in this idiot?"**

Acting quickly, Tex ran over, jumped out of her robot body and leapt into Caboose, making him cry out, **"Hegagergerk!"**

"Oh, crap," Church sighed, "Sarge, I need you to do me a favor. If I'm not outta there in ten minutes, I'm gonna need you to disable that ship, 'cos if Tex gets out of here with O'Malley and that kid, there's no one that's gonna be able to stop her."

"What the heck is he talkin' about?" Sarge asked puzzled, as Church ran over to Caboose.

"Oh, Tex and Omega have some kind of stupid plan to enslave the whole alien race," Tucker explained, "But Church thinks if she does, she's gonna become the Queen of the Universe or some crap."

"Pretty much," Rhode said.

Donut gasped at this, "Queen of the Universe? No one even told me we were having a competition!"

"Who are you anyway?" Sarge asked.

"Oh, name's Rhode," he answered, "I came here on the ship with Sister. Oh, and I'm a former Freelancer."

"Seems legit," Donut said.

 **XXX**

Afterwards, the Reds got an idea and drove towards the caves. So he, Tucker, and Caboose were left alone.

But a minute later, Tex jumped out of Caboose's body, entered her own body, and punched Tucker in the face, knocking him out. She grabbed his sword and punched Rhode in the stomach, causing him to double over. She then took off.

Suddenly, Church reappeared and asked, "Caboose, what happened?"

"Tex appeared out of nowhere and beat up Tucker and Rhode, _which was awesome_ , and took Tucker's sword," Caboose explained, "Also, someone may have been surprised by that and peed his pants, just a little bit... or a lot."

Church jumped quickly to his feet, avoiding the puddle under Caboose's legs.

"I was only behind him like thirty seconds," he growled, getting back into his body then he realized that Tex's body was gone, "What the crap? Where is she?"

"She took the sword and a Wyoming helmet to the ship," Caboose continued, "I think she went to the ship to save Tucker's kid. He's on the ship too now."

"Crap!" Church yelled, "What about O'Malley, where is he?"

In answer, he heard Donut laughing in a very evil voice, **"Huahahahahah! That's the problem with living in a Patriarchal society; men just automatically assume they know everything. Hahaha!"**

"Never mind," Church sighed as he and Caboose ran towards the ship.

Rhode then got up and followed. Tucker slowly got to his feet and looked round to see Captain Flowers come staggering out of the caves followed by Doc and Sister.

"Hello fellas," Flowers called out wearily, "How's everything going out here?"

"Not good," Tucker admitted, "Hey, you don't sound evil anymore."

"Thanks for noticing, Private. Yeah, being possessed by an evil force can be difficult at times, but with a little hard work and positive thinking, you can overcome anything."

"I think you mean hard work, positive thinking and no longer being useful as a pawn in their evil plan."

"Yeah that too," Flowers chuckled, unaware of the random sniper rounds hitting the grassy mound behind him, "So, who are we fighting today?"

"Uh, you know the usual. Tex, Red Team-"

"Red Team, those old rascals... Some things never change. Are they still wearing red armor these days?"

"Umm, yeah."

"Oh, Red Team."

"Hey, I could use some help."

"You bet," Flowers beamed, "And I have some information about the Reds that will guarantee our victory."

"You do?!" Tucker gasped.

"I certainly do," Flowers chuckled, "Would you like to hear it?"

"Yeah, I wanna hear it!"

"Great, because I'm just about to tell you!"

Tucker waited with anticipation but Flowers didn't say anything, "Okay, why aren't you telling me?"

"Good question," Flowers muttered, "I seem to be dramatically pausing for some-"

But then a sniper round hit him right through his visor and he fell to the ground, breathing his last... Again, "Hurk, bleah!"

"Well, good riddance," Tucker sighed as he, Doc and Sister set off for the ship, "I wasn't giving this armor back anyway."

 **XXX**

Meanwhile, Church, Rhode, and Caboose arrived by Sheila and they saw Sarge, Simmons and Grif pointing their guns at Donut who was glaring at them with a twisted look on his face.

"Whoa, easy Donut," Simmons called calmly, "You've been infected by a computer virus and we just need to figure out what to do about it."

 **"Whahahahaha, no!"** Omega yelled, **"It's my body, it's my choice! And another thing: why do I do as much work as you guys, but I only make 92%-"**

Suddenly Tex appeared out of nowhere and punched Donut in the back of the head, knocking him down.

"Hey don't hit my soldiers without my permission," Sarge bellowed.

Then he flinched before glaring at Tex and snarling, **"I'm the one who gets to hit my soldiers. Wahahahaha, yeah! Eat lead, world. Drop and give me infinity!"**

"Sarge, you've finally gone crazy," Grif cried out.

Then Tex punched Sarge in the back of his head and Grif suddenly flinched before blinking in confusion.

 **"Whoa, that's weird,"** he muttered in a dopey evil voice, **"I have a sudden urge to conquer the Universe which is odd for me because, well that would take actual work... I think I'll just fall asleep instead."**

Tex ran up to punch Grif, but then she saw that he had fallen asleep inside his helmet. Just then, Tucker, Doc and Sister ran over the hill.

"We're here," Doc called out, "Is anyone hurt?"

Then he flinched and Tucker and Sister stared in horror as he rounded on them, grinning evilly, **"Anyone need to be killed? Huahahahahahaha!"**

"I know that laugh," Church gasped, spinning round, "Nobody move!"

But Sister screamed and punched Doc in the face, knocking him down and as he did, Church suddenly flinched and then... he looked up with a puzzled expression.

"You know, uh... I don't really feel all that different," he admitted in his very normal voice, "Mha ha ha ha ha, huh huh huh... Nah, it feels pretty much the same; that's kinda weird. I mean, I expected more-"

Tex then ran up and punched Church in the back of his head. He wasn't knocked down, but he felt Omega leave his mind.

"Where'd he go, where'd he go?" he cried, "Is he gone?"

Then he had a horrible thought and turned round just in time to see Tex flinch, "Tex?"

"Church, run!" Tex yelled in a strained voice.

"Tex, don't!" Church reached out and grabbed her helmet, intending to rip it off and break Omega's connection.

But as he did, Tex lifted her head and stared at him with a malicious look on her face, **"You have no idea what kind of trouble you are in!"**

"Oh no..." Rhode said.

With a laugh, she raised her fist and punched Church right in the face. Tex/Omega then turned and ran off towards Sheila. Church got up on his elbows and watched as she snatched up Wyoming's helmet and ran over to the ramp where three aliens were waiting, holding Junior in their slimy claws.

"Wait, Tex," Church yelled, jumping to his feet as she and the aliens ran aboard the ship, "You don't want to do this!"

Once on board, Omega re-installed the ignition coil then ran over to the flight deck and took the pilot's seat next to the main computer, **"Sheila, are you ready?"**

"All systems online," Sheila announced, "Ignition coil activated. Starting thrusters."

 **"Launch when ready!"** Omega ordered.

"Please take your seats," Sheila called, "Launching in three... two... one..."

As the thrusters began to warm up and the main door slid shut, Church ran over to the front of the ship and stared at his girlfriend through the cabin window, "Tex... don't do this."

"Liftoff!" Sheila called.

Church jumped back as the ship took off and Tex glanced sadly out the window, "Goodbye."

Rhode then turned to look at the Reds, "We have to stop her right now!"

"No problemo, Blue," Sarge replied, switching on his radio, "Andy, you there?"

"I'm here coach!" Andy the talking bomb replied.

"What's going on?!" Church yelled over his radio.

"Tex is hooking up Wyoming's helmet to the computer," Andy reported.

"You ready for your job, soldier?" Sarge asked.

"You bet!"

"Alright then son," Sarge purred, "Do what you were born to do. Detonate."

"Hey, you want me to start from ten or three?" Andy giggled, "Come on, let's build up a little suspense, it'll kill 'em."

Then he spoke in a dull monotone, "Ten..."

Church gasped in horror, "I told to disable the ship-"

"Nine..."

"Not destroy it!"

"Eight..."

"Oh well," Sarge muttered, "Score one for the Red Team, I guess."

"Seven..."

"What about my kid?" Tucker cried.

"Six..."

"Oh right," Sarge realized.

"Five..."

"Score two."

"Four..."

Church got on the radio, "Andy, do not detonate!"

"Three..."

"Can you see her heading?"

"Two..."

"Do you know where she's going?!"

"One!"

By then the ship had reached the highest point in the sky and then suddenly... it disintegrated with a bright blue-green flash.

Church's jaw dropped and he fell to his knees, "Tex?"

"Junior," Tucker breathed in dismay.

"Oh no..." Rhode said.

"Boo, no explosion!" Grif jeered, "That sucked."

He turned away angrily... and just as he did, a huge explosion as bright as a firework lit up the sky with a loud booming roar, causing all the Blues to flinch.

"Haha, blammo!" Sarge cheered.

"Wow," Donut breathed, "That explosion was awesome!"

"What explosion?" Grif yelled as he looked round, "I didn't see it! Do it again!"

Tucker went over to his leader and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Uh, Church, what should we do?"

Church bowed his head.

"Do whatever you want," he sighed, "I'm goin' home."

"Yeah, forget this!"

Simmons watched them go then turned to his leader, "Sarge... are we fighting?"

"No, Simmons," Sarge muttered, picking up Lopez's head, "I think they've had their butts kicked enough for one day. Let's leave some for tomorrow."

At the top of the hill outside Blue Base, the Blue Team stopped and turned to look at the Reds. Sarge gave Church and Rhode a solemn salute that they returned, Simmons raised a fist to Tucker who gave a two-fingered salute, Grif waved to Sister who waved back and Donut nodded to Caboose who simply smiled. Then the two teams turned round and returned to their respective bases. As for Doc, he hung around for a while before shrugging and making his way back to the tunnel in the cliffs, hoping to call Command for a lift back...

 **XXX**

 **And that ends this finale chapter. To be honest, I've had a lot more fun writing this than my Power Rangers fanfic. So I'm off to do Reconstruction after the epilogue is done. Till next time guys!**


	20. Epilogue: How We Were Here

**Epilogue: How We Were Here**

A few days later...

On the roof of Blue Base, Rhode and Caboose kept their eyes peeled for any sign of attacking Reds. Rhode had had time in the past few days to fully digest that Carolina was dead and he was in a bit of a bad mood. He decided to stay at Blood Gulch, knowing there was nowhere else to go. But Church was in an even worse condition. He hadn't come out of his barracks since the battle ended. But for now, Rhode and Caboose were just standing around.

For a while they were silent then Caboose turned to his friend and spoke, "Hey, Rhode?"

"Yeah, Caboose?" Rhode replied.

"Ya ever wonder why we're here?" Caboose asked.

"You know, Caboose, I used to not care," Rhode sighed, "I just went along with orders and hoped that everything would work out for me. But after all that's happened, you know what I've learned? It's not about hating the guy on the other side because someone told you to. I mean, you should hate someone because they're a jerk, or a pervert, or a snob, or they're lazy, or arrogant, or an idiot, or a know-it-all. Those are reasons to dislike somebody. You don't hate a person because someone told you to. You have to learn to despise people on a personal level, not because they're Red or because they're Blue, but because you know them, and you see them every single day and you can't stand them because they are a complete and total freaking douchebag."

He was referring to the Insurrectionists he had fought and killed. He thought about how they had lives too and probably had families back home. He was also referring to his life and how he used to blindly follow the Director's orders. Caboose stared at him in silence, his puzzled expression hidden behind his visor.

"I meant, why are we up here in the sun, when we could be standing down there in the shade?" He pointed to the shadow behind the base.

"Oh," Rhode muttered, "Yeah okay, let's go stand in the shade."

 **XXX**

Meanwhile, on a cliff overlooking the base, Grif and Simmons were spying on the Blues. Grif was watching the scene through the scope of his sniper rifle while Simmons stood nearby.

"What are they doing?" Simmons asked for the first time since they'd arrived five minutes ago.

Grif lowered the rifle and turned round, "What?"

"I said what are they doing now?"

"I don't know man, talking," Grif replied with a shrug, "That's all these guys ever do, they just stand around and talk."

Simmons was silent for a moment as he stared at the Blues, "What're they talking about?"

Grif glowered at his teammate, "You know what? I hate you."

"Yeah, I hate you too, buddy," Simmons replied with a smile.

Just then the voice of doom, also known as their Sergeant, rang out from the Red Base, "Hey ladies, get down here! I built a new vehicle from some old Warthog parts we had laying around!"

"It's an ATV!" Donut added with a giggle, "It's awesome!"

"Front 'n' center on the double!" Sarge ordered, "We need help naming this thing... and nothin' stupid this time!"

"I get to name this one," Simmons cried as he and Grif ran back to base.

"Why?" Grif asked.

"Because you named the last one!"

Grif then smiled, "Hey Simmons, one last thing..."

"What?"

"Shotgun!"

"CRAP!" Simmons' voice echoed across the canyon known only as Blood Gulch where, like it or leave it, for better or worse, through trials and tribulations, the Reds and Blues would always be there... at least until the next season.

 **XXX**

 **There you have it guys! Rhode's time in Blood Gulch is nearly up. On to Reconstruction! Till next time guys!**


End file.
